


Secrets of iron

by CurrySpider_215



Series: The Story of Emma Stark [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Hero bonding, Irondad, Little badass stark, Peter gets sister kinda, Please be nice, Teenager Hero, first fic on here, kinda siblings, little stark, long story, longfic, own hero, screw end of cw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:33:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 64,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25751410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CurrySpider_215/pseuds/CurrySpider_215
Summary: Tony Stark had a daughter. A secret daughter. No one knew about. But the longer you try to keep a secret the harder it gets. Especially if the secret likes to sneak out and get herself wanted by S.H.I.E.L.D.orA rebellious little Stark that adopts Peter as her big brother
Relationships: Irondad & Spiderson - Relationship, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Series: The Story of Emma Stark [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2111109
Comments: 6
Kudos: 39





	1. Life of a Stark (Hopefully not normally)

**Author's Note:**

> Before reading:  
> Civil War did happen but Tony forgave the Rouges.Kinda.  
> Accords get banned.  
> Sorry if there are any Typos or other errors english is not my first language

She tried to open her eyes but they just didn't.

Where was she? She didn't know. In fact she had no clue what happened or why she could not open her eyes.

She tried to move and found herself being tied up. The more she moved and trashed to get free the closer she got to panic completely.

She tried to calm herself down.

God, why the f*ck was she even here. Wherever here was.

On her way to something close to normal she realized that her eyes were open. She just could not see anything.

Now that she got to think she heard some noises.

About twenty minutes later she figured that she was probably alone in that room, so she tried to slip out of the ropes around her wrists and ankles. She was about to succeed when she noticed a far too familiar noise coming closer. For just a second she stopped but as soon as she heard the sound of a fight from above she continued.

Fortunately whoever tied her up made a bad job doing it. As soon as she was free she searched for something in that room, a light switch, a door or anything.

On her way along one of the walls she nearly tripped over something soft, which turned out to be a bundle of her shoes and hoodie.

As fast as she could she slipped her bare feet into her sneaker and slipped her hoodie over her shirt.

A few steps farther she finally found a door. Before she opened it she listened and was surprised that the fight seemed to have stopped.

Carefully she opened the door and was a bit dizzy from the sudden bright light in the hallway she found herself in.

She looked up and down the hall and was surprised with about a dozen unconscious people. It was weird to look at, because it looked like someone was searching for her and blew ever door, but the one she was behind, away doing so.

After turning around she had a good reason for that. The door was actually a secret door hidden by a shelf. Before she could examine the door more the sound of a shot from down the hall caught her attention.

She ran in the direction of the shot.

On her way she grabbed a leg of a broken chair. Just in case.

When she turned around the last corner she saw a guard holding a gun knocked out on the floor.

Until now she hadn't noticed that the sounds were muffled like she was underwater. She heard someone shouting something but she couldn't figure out what.

Slowly she followed the sound into a room.

Just after she entered the room trough the roasted door she felt something being stabbed into her shoulder. The last thing she saw was her Dad rushing forward after the man with syringe fell to the ground.

Then everything went black. Again.

The next time she opened her eyes she was in her room. Thank god.

She turned to a sitting position. Staying there for a bit to let the dizziness go away.

“Good Morning, Baby Boss.” greeted FRIDAY her.

“Fri! Thank God. What time is it?” she asked FRIDAY, now at least kind of awake. “

It is currently 10:13.”

What?! How long had she been asleep?!

After that hit her she noticed just how hungry she was. Given the time she went to the kitchen and made herself a sandwich.

She was still wearing the clothes from before and they didn't smell that good.

After she finished her sandwich she went back to her room and into her bathroom. A quick shower later she went to her lab and started to tinker a bit.

“Fri? Where are Mom and Dad?” she asked after a while.

“Boss and Real Boss are currently in a Meeting for Stark Industries.”

That was...odd. Dad hated going to Meetings.

She didn't think about it for much longer though. She tinkered with a few old phones and repaired the gauntlet from her Dad's Suit.

In the afternoon her dad came in to her lab

“Hey..feeling better..” He went to the couch in the lab and sat down.

“Yup...fixed your gauntlet” she said while tossing a cookie to her dad.

She grabbed the box full of cookies and went to sit with her dad.

“So..how did you get yourself kidnapped in the first month of your freshman year?” He asked.

She answered annoyed “You know... just felt like my life is so lame that I just thought it would be a bit fun” she stopped and laughed a bit. “Ok...ok... now serious ..I don't know...maybe someone found out that I'm not Emma Smith but Emma STARK. But I think they just wanted someone...if they had known that I'm a Stark they would have been not that obvious. You know grabbing someone in the middle of the street in New York. But to the important stuff: Did you get them?”

No one really believed that one could be stupid enough to kidnap the daughter of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts if they have a will to life.

“Yes. Got 'em. I mean he was stupid enough to try and sedate you in my presence. But you seemed to have already been drugged. You hallucinated. You attacked me with a book...and saw people that weren't there...so you sure you okay, Ems?”

That made...sense. Really that explained why everything after the van seemed blurry.

“Oh...yeah...that explains a lot....wait..what day's today?” she asked after she noticed that she had absolutely no clue whether it was Tuesday or Saturday.

“Friday. But don't worry about school. I got it covered.”

That was good and bad news.

Good because she probably wouldn't have to do all the missed work from school.

Bad because that meant she had missed three days of school.

“What do you mean by 'you got it covered'?” She knew too good to just leave it there. After all he was her Dad.

“They think you're just sick...” he admitted lamely.

“okay...lame...but works..so what about pizza?” She was really hungry and it was already late.

“Pizza...sounds good...Fri can you order the usual?” he agreed.

“On it, Boss.” The AI started a timer counting down 'til the pizza would be at the Tower.

They made their way to the penthouse a few floors higher.

“Fri said you were in a meeting earlier...for SI..how come? You hate those meetings.”

They were in the private elevator going up.

“You know your mum...and they were talking' shit about Iron man...”

Sometimes some business men were ignorant and just saw what money the Iron Man Amour could make.

“God do they ever shut up about that...”

It was an on-going inside joke between the two of them.

While they waited for their pizza to arrive they talked about literally anything.

“Wait...tomorrow is Saturday. Is there another band meeting?”

Every two weeks the Avengers had a group meeting which was often held at the Tower since everyone had a room there.

”Yup...”

You could think that as Iron Man's daughter she was close to the team of superheroes but the only one she met once in a while was Bruce Banner and only as the SI intern Emma Smith. So whenever one of the Avengers came to Tony's personal penthouse she would be in her room or in her lab.

“Your pizza arrived, Boss.”

The ding of the elevator interrupted the father-daughter-duo in their joking about the heroes.

The billionaire got up and grabbed the pizza boxes. The Office was playing in the living room while they ate the pizza.

After the pizza was gone they switched to a movie and got some popcorn.

“Like father like daughter...” Pepper walked over to the couch and sat down between the other two.

“At least you didn't eat my pizza...” She grabbed the third box and chuckled when Tony and Emma shushed her unison.

The rest of the night went by and as the end credits filled the TV everyone yawned.

“Goodnight...” Emma sat up yawning and went down the hall to her bedroom.

Soon Tony and Pepper followed after putting away the empty pizza boxes. Knowing that her daughter had not the tiniest problem with the kidnapping this week Pepper fell into a deep sleep for the first time after Wednesday.

Emma was not happy when her sleep was ended at 8:00.

But she soon remembered why. So she got up and brushed her teeth.

It was probably going to be a lab day since the Avengers had their meeting often while brunching in Tony's penthouse.

Standing in front of her closet she sighed and quickly grabbed a sports leggings and a new sample of the cropped shirt for the SI merch.

As she walked into the kitchen Pepper was already making smoothies. Grabbing a banana she sat down at the counter.

“Good morning, sweetie. How are you?” She was pouring the smoothie from the blender into two big cups.

“Fine. I think I'm gonna make it a lab day since dad's boy band is coming.”

Normally the Avengers brunched in the penthouse and held their meeting while Pepper was doing SI stuff the whole day and Emma was out with her friends or in her lab. It became a little ritual that Emma and Pepper had breakfast together before the heroes took over the floor.

After their smoothie Pepper wished her a good day and went to her office.

Emma cleaned the kitchen before she took the elevator to the private lab-floor.

After the doors slid open she made her way down the hallway. The last door led into her lab. It was nearly as big as Tony's but not even close to the lab Tony and Bruce used together on the same floor for Avengers stuff.

Whenever she was in her lab tinkering she grabbed her wireless headphones and started one of her many playlists, depending on her mood. Today she clicked absent-mindedly on her “Happy Boost Mix”.

After Bruce once nearly walked into her lab because of the loud music she always used headphones. She even upgraded them so they could charge wireless after she once forgot to charge them.

After she switched her holographic desks on FRIDAY told her that the first Avengers were in the penthouse.

She tinkered for a while with a broken StarkPhone.

“The Avengers brunch is beginning now.”

Emma had to chuckle a bit in the memory of the last hero meeting. Two weeks ago she had programmed FRIDAY to call the Avengers 'the Boy Band' and was pretty proud that her dad had only found it out when he wanted to sent the notes to Nick Fury.

After she found what was missing in the phone and caused the malfunction she quickly fixed it and put it on her 'fixed' pile.

Now she had time for more interesting things .. like her secret project.

Not even her father knew about it, because he would probably forced her to drop it.

She started it about a month after her dad made sure she could defend herself and she began to train fighting. It was a great way to let out anger or just her need to move around and very relieving after a long day of sitting in her lab.

In those nearly 9 months she created a few gadgets. She had a few shocking little weapons, in all ways shocking.

Whenever she planned a new one she made sure it could only harm, not kill.

Every time she had to hide from some people invading the penthouse she would work on her project. Or whenever she could be sure that no one would come into her lab.

Before school started she was already far with finishing her sketches. She had her compromised nets, her also electrical handcuffs and her knives and was know on her suit and trying another idea but she wasn't sure about that one. It was a sword like weapon but the blade should be able to be compromised in the handle.

Her suit was now her main thing so she opened her sketch over her desk in the middle of the room. The outfit glimmed in a light blue.

She was already sure about the pockets on her belt. Those would hold her little traps and other gadgets. She also had two holders for the knifes, one on each leg.

The boots reached the knees and had solid soles. Not only to have a good grip while running but because she had installed a lighter version of Tony's thrusters.

The only other thing she was almost sure about were the gloves. They had a good grip and from a very slim case all around the wrist she could form thrusters to stabilize the flight or just fight when needed.

Her problem was with the top. She wanted it to be not too baggy but also not too tight. It should have long sleeves.

A mask was for now only a wish. It was just not easy to think about. She didn't want a mask like Spiderman, her hair would never get in one like that. Only around the eyes was ridiculous in her opinion. Like 'you cannot see my eyebrows, now you will never know who I am'? That just makes no sense.

She turned back to think about the top and zoomed in on that.

The last time she worked on it she had made a fabric with a little vibranium in it. That makes it more durable and less blowy.

While she was thinking she got carried away by the music.

After belting the last half of 'Power' by Little Mix, she got back to the holographic suit in the middle of the messy lab. Maybe she could clean a bit.

After taking a look at the workbench and shelves she let that thought drop. It would probably take longer than finding a top for her suit. She looked at the clock and nearly fell of the couch she just threw herself on it was already 2:00 pm. How did she miss lunch?

Turning off the table she made her way across the room and went to the elevator. Since the Avengers blocked the kitchen she went to the cafeteria for visitors and employees. It wasn't very crowded.

As she entered FRIDAY turned the volume of her music down so she would hear if people talked to her. She went straight to the counter and got a bit of the Chinese food and sat down near the window.

As she looked down at the city she quickly made the decision to go a bit trough the floors later, looking how the people are doing. She would probably end up staying with the R&D guys. They always had problems she could solve and the best gossip.

After she finished her lunch she went up to her lab, grabbed her intern badge and told FRIDAY where she would be for the rest of the day just in case someone was searching for her.

She went back to the cafeteria and even before she could think of where to start her little tour someone came running.

“Smith! Rick blew it up! Again!!” The college girl stopped a few feet in front of her.

“Again?!” She didn't hesitate to follow Emily to R&D.

As the girls arrived a boy had already began to clean one of the white desks.

“What was it this time, Rick?” Emma quickly grabbed the lightly burned device from the boy, Rick.

“I'm not sure..maybe the new processor..”

The three let the black table be and turned to free desk.

The tour was cut down to R&D for today.


	2. Screw-up Number 1 (Great, really...)

Rick and Emily actually had an internship so they left when it got too late. Soon after they had left Emma fixed their little project and prevented another explosion.

Quickly she closed the space. Turned off all the holo-tables and brought a few StarkPads that were left laying around to the charging station. She grabbed her headphones she had set aside when she had helped the duo.

On her way to the elevator she asked FRIDAY to turn off the lights and let the music of her headphones drown out the silence of the empty R&D floor. She walked trough the hallway which was only there for visitor tours.

Next stop was her lab and then probably her bed.

She quickly put her headphones back and closed her little workshop to which only her dad, her mom and herself had access.

The Avengers were normally done by now or at least switched to their common floor.

When she entered the elevator again FRIDAY updated her on the 'Meeting'. “The Avengers are currently holding a Mario Cart competition on their common floor. It is save to go to the penthouse.” With that the doors opened and led into said penthouse.

On her way trough the kitchen she grabbed a piece of the leftover lasagna and sat down on the couch.

“Fri can you turn on the TV?”

The first thing on the screen was J.J. Jameson ranting about Spider man and the danger that comes from him. Not a lot of people took that serious. It often played in the background so everyone had something to laugh at.

A very good laugh and finished piece of lasagna later Emma turned off the TV and went to bed. Sleeping was not on her mind.

After changing into her pyjamas she laid on her bed and scrolled trough Instagram for a while. A long while. It was really cool to look at the Fan art people posted of her dad and the other Avengers.

She had a little square near her bed on the wall plastered with Fan art, photos and other things of her family.

“Mini Boss, Pepper asked me to make sure you sleep enough. Good night.” FRIDAY turned down the lights in her room.

She sighed and put her phone aside. Yeah..staying awake for days was one of the bad habits she earned from her father. She looked out of her window and across the city and closed her eyes.

The next morning she woke up to the smell of burned pancakes.

Half awake she made her way into the kitchen only to see her dad trying to make said pancakes.

“Shit. How can something like THIS be so complicated?!?” It seemed to be not his first try.

“Morning.” Only then he noticed Emma and nearly dropped the pan.

“Morning sleeping beauty. Got a good lab day?”

“Yeah..kinda. I fixed that phone you gave me and Rick blew the watch up again...”

She drifted off still barely awake.

“Umm..what about cereal? “ Tony gave up on the pancakes and got two bowls with cereals.

After breakfast and new videos of Hawkeye falling out of the vents Emma went to change into nearly the same outfit from yesterday. The only difference was the color of the shirt.

She came back to the living area where Tony was sitting with a StarkPad.

“Ohh..before you're asking. Pep's on a business trip to Europe. Probably til Wednesday.” He said when he noticed his daughter.

“Ok..I'm going training, dad.” She was already on her way to the elevator.

“Okay but only on employees floor, ok?”

“Yep”

The doors closed and she stopped by her lab to grab her headphones. She had a second pair but it broke during her last training.

When she arrived in the training area on the 'Free Floor' as the employees called it she starting her warm-up.

In the beginning it was just combat but she soon moved on to more.

Her favourite of all was sword fighting but she also tried archery and shooting.

Grabbing one of the training swords she started the fight parcour she programmed. It was the closets she got to a real fight without Tony forbidding it. He was very strict about her fighting.

After about ten minutes she beat FRIDAY and stood heavy breathing in the middle of the room.

She made a few exercises on shooting and went on to her normal training.

After she was finished with cardio she got back to the free area and started the algorithm but with sword and combat.

After about 20 minutes she had beat the last holographic villain with a KO. Exhausted she sat down in the middle of the floor in front of the windows. New York was at least kinda peaceful at this time.

While the first real employees got onto the floor she noticed a certain spider swinging by the Tower.

She took a quick shower on the floor and went back to her lab. Since Pepper wasn't in town her dad was probably busier than usual meaning she could keep on thinking about her little project.

While she switched on the table and started the 'Hamilton' Soundtrack she activated her little 'Iron Spy Protocol' just in case Tony would come to her lab.

After opening her suit she sat down on her couch and just looked at it. She then grabbed her StarkPad and started to make a list of the things she was sure about.

The top should be not too loose nor too tight, it should have long sleeves... It should not cover the belt... She started to sketch a little next to her notes when she got an idea.

“Fri, can you bring up a model of our crop top up.”

Just a second later the suit got pushed to the side and a light blue glowing version of the shirt she was currently wearing.

“Could you give it long and tight sleeves?”

She took the SI logo and put it into a little bin on the edge of the table while FRIDAY modified the shirt.

That was it.

Not too tight or loose and functional for combat fighting. The only problem was the neckline.

She thought for a moment and then quickly grabbed her tablet and sketched something. She then dragged it from her tablet to the table and combined it with the shirt.

It was a turtle neck. But it went on smoothly into a mask covering the lower half of her face.

The only problem left now was to cover her hair at least mostly.

“Fri can you and a...hood? But wide enough that my hair fits in it in any way.”

After a bit FRIDAY loaded the shirt with the hood.

After merging the two holograms together she took a step back. Yep that was it.

She saved it and made a mental note to make the shirt as soon a possible and test it.

She went on to the new web shooters she was working on for Spider-Man. She wanted to make them a little slimmer so he could wear them in public without giving away his identity.

As a kind of Avenger he should be able to be prepared for everything at any time. She made a lot of his gadgets. It was also her idea to use an internship as a cover for his vigilante activities.

He went to her school and was just one year above her. She knew who he was but he had not a clue about her. In fact they had only met a few times and those were in the hallways of Midtown Tech.

Besides their school and cover stories for their biggest secrets they weren't quite different.

He was part of the decathlon team and Emma was a big theatre kid.

They were both so called 'nerds'.

Peter Parker, Spider-Man, was often a bit chaotic just like Emma.

Her father was his mentor, sort of.

In the past Peter lost his parents and his uncle Ben, so now it was only him and his aunt May.

After she was done with the blueprints she went on to her costume.

She wanted something like Peter had in his suit. Invisible tech. Well at least invisible for people looking at her.

She already had the thrusters which could only be seen when used.

In her mask was a communication system.

As an assistant for fighting situations she wanted to include FRIDAY but she wasn't sure about that.

She was now working on a 'Silent mode' that way she could speak to her AI without being heard by everyone around her. It turned out to be much easier than she thought at first because of the vibranium in the fabric.

She was working on the holographic mask when FRIDAY alerted her of an approaching person. She always kept things very vague when it wasn't her father or her mom.

Quickly she closed the file and turned to the only other open one.

After FRIDAY had turned down her music she heard the steps on the hallway. They were...strange. Not her dads kind of heavy steps and not her mom's shoes.

As soon as the door opened she wished she had turned off the lab instead of pretending to work on something else.

“Ehhmm...this is not Mr. Starks lab, is it?”

With her back facing the door she froze in her movements. Fantastic just fantastic. How did she forget that Peter had his tour of the SI floors today since he has now an actual internship.

Before that he had only seen the Avengers floors and the big lab on this floor.

After Emma shook her head he was about to leave again. He had already turned around but turned back once more after the information of what he had seen got to his mind.

“Are those m- Spider- Man's web shooters?” He came a step further into the room.

“Ehhhmm...would you believe me if I said no..?” A really good attempt of hiding.

“No...not really....” He came a bit closer, too close for Emma.

She suddenly turned to face him. “You must be the new intern. Welcome. How did you get on this floor? It is normally closed for interns.” She tried to convince him of her cover story. Being her dads personal intern.

Peter looked around and his eyes locked on her intern badge. He picked it up and faced Emma who had switched off the table completely.

“I could ask you the same...Emma?..” He was now investigating her like one of the criminals on his patrols. “Why did you had a file to the web shooters opened on your holo table?”

Yeah, she screwed up. But better him than Steve Rogers or any other Avenger.

As he looked at her trying to get her to talk it only got worse. “Wait..don't you go to my school? You're in the theatre club, right?”

Yep, completely screwed. “Ehmm...you were searching for the lab of Mr. Stark? It is down the hallway. The door nearest do the elevator.” Emma wanted to distract him. Unfortunately it didn't work out.

Peter kept starring at her, questioning her with his look.

“Nope..ok...Fri a little help?”

The situation was really stuck. The AI didn't respond but sure did something.

“I asked you something...Are you deaf? No, you would use ASL then, wouldn't you? ...” Spider-Man began to rant. He had no explanation why this Emma Smith was on this floor, had access to Avengers files and knew where to find his mentors lab with a just normal intern badge.

“C-can you stop ranting! Please...” She had actually tried for the last minute to stop his talking.

He looked at her in disbelief.

“Fri called me down. Did something happen?” Perfect timing. At least It was not that bad without Peter rambling. When Tony noticed WHAT happened he reacted with a simple 'oh'.

“Well...not my lab kid. Close but no.”

As he noticed the badge in Peters hands he bit his lips like every time he found a problem that needed immediate solutions.

“Ehmm...How much did he figure out?”

After the teens stayed silent FRIDAY took the opportunity to report.

“Mister Parker wondered how Emma could access this floor and Avengers files with her badge. He also seems to have recognized her as a member of the theatre club.” That was a lot.

Peter was only more confused by his mentors reaction to the girl on this floor.

“I guess we should talk. But not here. Let's go to the penthouse.” Emma already put down her headphones and waited for her dad and his mentee to exit her lab.

“Penthouse?” Peters confusion only grew.

“Just follow me.” The two men walked into the hallway and waited for Emma.

She closed her lab and the three of them walked silently to the elevator that would take them to said penthouse.

As he doors slid open the teens walked in front of Tony. One of them comfortable in the wide living area and the other amazed by the penthouse of the Starks. They all sat down on the couch.

“I know you have no clue what is going on, but as your sort of mentor I told you to not lie to me so I'll do he same.”

You could see that the confusion on Peters face only grew more with every word his mentor said.

Emma noticed not only that but also what Tony was going to do. Yeah it was probably dumb but Peter could keep a secret. He is Spider man after all.

“Pete meet Emma. Emma you know Peter...”

Suddenly Peter realized he hadn't really introduced himself. He waved at Emma. “Hi. I'm Peter. Parker. Sorry for asking so much.”

Being in his mentors private penthouse seemed to intimidate him a bit.

“No problem. Really.”

Tony looked at his phone while Emma began to apologise for not answering his questions and panicking.

“You seem to get along. I'm sorry but I have to go to a meeting. Wow. I never thought I would say that. Anyway. You two don't blow anything up.” With that he went to the elevator to get to said meeting.

“So...about your questions...yeah I go to Midtown Tech and I'm in the theatre club. And you are absolutely right that badge does not give me access to the private labs and Avengers files.”

Peter looked again at the badge he was still holding.

“But how did you get on that floor then? I'm sorry I'm probably asking too much.”

Emma chuckled a little. “Your badge doesn't give you access to that floor either. My biometrics are in FRIDAY's system just like yours. But not because I'm an Avenger like you.”

The confusion seemed to leave him slowly.

“I-I'm n-not an Avenger...Why would you think that?” In his eyes there was no way that Emma knew of his secret identity.

“Don't worry. I know you're Spider man. I actually made your web shooters that's why I had the file open.”

The slight panic left his face. “Then that is your lab?? I never saw you in the big lab.”

Emma was actually not surprised. “Yeah. My lab. I think I forgot to introduce myself, right? I'm Emma. Emma Stark.”

The confusion was back on Peters face. “Stark? But...how...wait. Are you Mr. Starks daughter?!” He was mind blown.

“Yeah but only in this apartment. Everywhere else I use my cover name Emma Smith. It was my dad's idea so I don't get followed around by paparazzi and have a normal childhood..you know.”

He fell silent. “So no one knows except from your parents and now me. Wow. Don't you feel alone sometimes? I mean you can never talk about your family...”

It was good to have someone to speak about her family. “Yeah but I was homeschooled before so...I never had a problem with that.”

They fell silent for a while until Peter spoke again. “You knew that I'm Spider-Man all the time but never said anything...thanks.”

Emma chuckled. “I actually told someone but he was pretty impressed and helped me make the suit for you.”

“Wait. You're telling me that YOU told Mr. Stark before he came to my apartment and he took me to Germany?”

“Yep. I also convinced him to forgive Bucky. I mean he was brainwashed and Captain America was not sure.”

At this Peter told her a few stories from the trip her father never told her.

“..and now they even call me in in for their meetings sometimes. What do you do when we flood the apartment? I mean I have never seen you around and the others don't know you..”

They came back to the present.

“I normally spend the day in my lab or go around the different floors. Help where I can.”

Her phone on the table buzzed and she looked at the message.

“oh. My dad is going to be late but he said you could stay. He asked your Aunt. So how about a movie? We can just order food later.” They picked the first Star Wars movie and got some popcorn.

After the first film was trough they ordered a bit Chinese food and ate it while watching the second movie of the franchise.

After the end credits rolled down they talked a bit and Emma questioned him a little. She even got him to talk about his crush even though he didn't want to tell her who it was she knew exactly he was talking about MJ.

They eventually fell asleep on the couch and when Tony came in he just turned of the lights and the TV and went to his bedroom.


	3. first rebellion (without thinking it trough)

It was a very annoyingly loud alarm from FRIDAY that woke the two teenagers up. Looking at the time it was surprisingly early for Emma even though she had school today.

“Boss asked me to wake you early so Mr. Parker could grab his needed supplies for school from his apartment.”

With that Peter was fully awake and aware of his whereabouts. He jumped from the couch. “Shit..we have school!”

Emma stood up too but she just walked to the kitchen and made sandwiches while Peter was in full on panic mode.

“You want some? You have about an hour 'til school starts. Enough time to swing back to your apartment and go to school. No need to panic.”

She calmly set down a plate of sandwiches on the counter and grabbed one. A bit calmed down Peter ate too but more because of his metabolism.

“Thanks.”

Emma went to her room to change and get ready for school while Peter put on his suit and jumped out the window after he was completely calmed down.

Standing in her room she quickly grabbed a jeans and one of the AC/DC shirts she had snatched from her dad and put her mane into a simple ponytail. She checked if everything was in her bag before putting her StarkPad into it as well.

She put on a little make up to hide the circles under her eyes. Grabbing her phone and her earphones she went to the elevator. Normally one of her parents was there when she left for school but today Pepper was out of the country and Tony for once slept so there was no one insisting on Happy driving her.

She went out the backdoor of the Tower and used public transportation to get to school.

When she arrived she could see Peter walk up to his friend. For a moment she thought about walking up to them as well but quickly decided against it so she went to her locker to get the books for her first few classes.

She made her way trough the hallways to her homeroom and already sat down in the back. In her other classes she also sat down in the back.

Before lunch she went to her locker to put her books back in. As she turned away from her locker she heard someone approaching her.

“Wait.”

She was surprised to hear Peter who was walking to lunch with his best friend, Ned.

“What?” She was already annoyed by the comments from her classmates. When she realised how that sounded she quickly apologized.

“No problem. Tough day? Wanna sit with us at lunch?”

The three teens were already walking to the cafeteria.

“Sure why not.”

After they got their food they sat down at an empty table in the back.

“Oh, sorry. Ned that is Emma. Emma Ned.”

“Hey Emma. You're a freshmen, right?”

Ned seemed very enthusiastic to Emma.

“Yep.”

They talked a bit about school until Ned asked how they met.

“Uhm..we met at the Tower. I have also an internship at SI.”

“Yeah I ran into her in..eh..R&D...”

Ned then had 101 questions about SI and the Tower.

“Do you have..like..an intern internship or an internship?” Ned whispered while asking Emma when Peter left to get another water.

“What do you mean? It's an internship.”

He still looked questioning but didn't ask again when Peter arrived. They talked a bit more until they had to get to their next classes. Before going they made a group chat.

The rest of the day went by in a rush.

As she got home she quickly did her homework and then went to work in her lab. She turned her music on and began to work on the web shooters.

After a while she had finally found a way to make the biggest possible web fluid portions. She also made sure to make them as comfortable as she could so they wouldn't lead to a sensory overload.

When she was finished she worked a little on her own little project. The last little touches. As a color theme she stayed with blue, dark blue and an icy grey to keep her from being seen in the dark.

After the design was finished the AI started to turn the hologram into a real version of the costume. It didn't took long until Emma grabbed the long finished belt with gadgets, her boots and the just finished pants and shirt. She closed the lab after she fit everything in her bag from school.

In the penthouse her father was waiting with dinner.

“Hungry?”

He held a box of Thai food.

“Yes! Coming!” Before she sat down with Tony she quickly threw her bag into her room.

“I finished the web shooters. The blueprints actually.”

They talked about their day until a in Emma's opinion very annoying alarm went off. The Avengers were needed.

Tony took a quick look at his phone. “This is gonna take a bit. You're okay?”

This was perfect! “Yes, I'm fine. The world needs Iron man and I'm old enough to spent a day without my Iron dad.”

He didn't look amused but was suiting up anyway.

“Don't blow up the Tower!”

He flew out of an opened window and Emma hurriedly put the left overs in the fridge and went to her room. Otherwise she would have waited til the weekend but this was a perfect time to test her suit. She changed quickly and braided her hair.

She decided to go out the backdoor just in case her thrusters didn't work. After she stepped on the busy streets of New York she searched for an ally to go fully into her suit. She quickly found one, pulled up her mask and hood and activated her little AI she made for her suit.

Over the years she became fond of parkour and was now really good so it was now no problem for her to climb the rooftops of New York. Standing on the edge of the roof she was blown away by the view. The busy street underneath her and the lights far away.

She began to run across the roofs. It felt like flying, like defying gravity and being really free.

She soon was stopped by a skyscraper. For a moment she hesitated but then activated her thrusters. It was a bit wobbly at first but she got the hang on it. She landed on the top and it felt like dreaming.

She was pulled out of her dream by a notification from her AI. A robbery down the street.

She made her way to the deli. As she arrived she could see that the thieves had guns and knifes. She quickly went in through the backdoor to surprise the criminals.

She kicked the knife out of the hand from the masked one closest to the counter she had crawled behind. The other pointed the gun at her.

“Where'd you come from?” He seemed surprised but not shocked like his partner.

She threw her hands in the air. “A gun?! You got me.”

She slowly bent down to pick up the knife from his partner but instead kicked his legs so he fell. Grabbing his gun she threw a web bomb at the first one. It was inspired by Peter's webs.

While she actually grabbed the knife from the floor the second one started to run but she quickly webbed him up as well. She then left through the front door without another word.

Had she went off with her thrusters just a moment later she would have seen Peter swinging by from Queens headed for the deli she just entered.

But she flew back home. She had school tomorrow.

She never actually thought about the consequences of being or becoming a hero but was hit by them the next morning.

She woke up late and nearly ran to school to be on time.

Only once she stopped her pace in the middle of the pavement.

One J.J. Jameson was ranting about 'another spider-maniac' while showing a picture of the thieves from last night. That was not ideal but better than being unmasked, right?

She continued her walk to school.

She had missed her last train and was forced to walk through New York just to get to school on time.

As she entered the school she noticed a lot of people talking and whispering. Even the school news from Betty and that other guy were excited.

She didn't listen closely until she came across one of the screens in the hallway. A very bad photo of her filled the screen and was soon accompanied by a Spider-Man picture and a big question mark.

Every one wanted to make a connection between them.

She moved away to get her books and go to class but when it started everyone was whispering about it.

Even at lunch they didn't stop and on insta you could see the first fanart of her and Spider-Man.

After she grabbed her food she went to sit with a very annoyed Peter and a curious Ned.

“Do you know who she is? How'd she leave? Why was she never seen before?”

Peter was eating his sandwich while Emma sat down in front of them.

“Hey.”

Ned didn't seem to notice her.

“I think he can't answer your questions. He seems very confused himself. I mean I would be if there suddenly is a hero using webs similar to yours...”

At that Ned stopped. “You-you know that-that he is-is “ He mouthed 'Spiderman' and Emma just nodded.

“Thanks. He asked me the whole morning! Do you know anything about that 'Ninja'? She seems to have somehow made a version of my web fluid. It seems a bit different but I hadn't had the chance to make any tests.”

She could tell him but her father was his mentor and he should not need to lie to him.

“No..Sorry. But we could run some tests in m- in the lab if you have any samples.” Nice save.

They agreed to meet at the Tower after school because they or at least Peter had no clue when the web would dissolve. Ned only said that any results shall be sent to him.

The rest of the day at school was a blur with a lot of whispering people and annoyed teachers. As the last bell rang Emma was one of the first to leave the room. She made a quick stop at her locker and headed out.

She took a quick look on her phone and was surprised by a message from her dad. 'Happy's driving you home. But Avengers r in penthouse. Ly dad' She looked up and saw the black Audi in the parking lot and in the far she could see Spider-Man swinging to the Tower.

She got into the car and Happy drove off.

“Avengers have a meeting because of this Ninja girl from last night. So I guess you make it a lab day or something.”

They made a lot of jokes about the traffic until they reached the Tower.

Emma got out of the car and went up to her lab.

'THE avengers r asking ME to recruit or snatch that ninja lady!!!!!!'

'Do you need your guy in the chair?'

'they want ME to be first option only when I fail they'll go in!!!!'

She screwed up again. At least it was not her father chasing her. At least not for now.

The chat was full of questions from Ned and Peter freaking out.

As she wanted to ask him if they will still meet today she heard voices in the hallway.

“Go ahead. I just need to grab something from my lab.”

Two voices left and her dad came into her lab. “Hey. Sorry for the sudden meeting this ninja girl came out of nowhere. How was your day?”

He seemed a bit stressed but that was actually normal.

“Normal. Plus everyone talking about that girl. You guys found anything?”

Tony complained about how Fury was making a big deal out of it and how it was probably just a freaky Fangirl.

“So now the order is to catch or recruit her. And trying first is our Bug Boy then we and if nothing helps Fury.”

Great. At first she thought it was the Avengers who wanted her, now it was Fury.

“Ok. You'll get her. Now go and do your Job. You know where to find me.”

He went to the big lab where Bruce Banner and Peter were already analysing the web.

At around 7pm she went to her room after grabbing dinner at the employee cafeteria. She sent a goodnight text to her parents but didn't go to bed.

While her father was trying to figure out how to find her she went out into the night to fight crime. It was surprisingly quiet but in a few moments she thought she was being followed. She eventually sat down on a building in Queens when a masked teenager surprised her.

“Hey.” He landed a few feet behind her and was shocked as she immediately got into defence.

“Sorry. Didn't wanna scare you. I'm Spider-man.”

She relaxed a little bit as he stepped out of the shadow.

Before she responded she made sure that the voice filter was on. “I know...so...what do you want?”

He seemed a bit surprised by her reaction but went on. He shortly explained how the Avengers were taken by surprise with her appearance and wanted to know more about her.

“I'm sorry but if 'more' includes unmasking I'm out! I'm fine with answering questions or whatever but unmasking is a big 'No-no' for me.”

He then offered to just sit down at the edge of the roof and just talk a bit.

Actually he asked questions the Avengers were sending to his suit so Emma had to explain how she got to the web, how long she's been doing this and such things.

“I'm sorry but did you say a name I can call you? I mean everyone refers to you as 'ninja girl'...”

She actually hadn't thought about a name before. “A-actually not. No. But it is most definitely not 'Ninja girl'!”

He asked a few more questions and apologized for asking so many until Emma really had to go. She sure had first period free tomorrow but she still got school.

“I'm sorry but I have to go. And by the way you should upgrade your suit's software or at least firewall.”

She already stood up and was now about to go.

“One last question. You said you would help us but how do we contact you?”

She grinned under her mask.

“You'll know how when you need it.”

With that she jumped to the next roof and ran into the night.

No one had noticed that while the two of them had talked Emma had hacked his suit and had inserted a new protocol. She also made sure that they weren't tracking her.

At the Tower she flew up to her window, changed and went to sleep.

Next day at lunch Peter and Ned were discussing about the 'Ninja' like everyone else but after Peter had told him that she didn't have a name Ned came up with the weirdest hero-names.

Peter seemed a bit annoyed but made a few up himself while Emma was scrolling trough the internet and kept on mocking Peter with the fanart and memes about Spider-man and 'Ninja'.

At the end of the day Ned and Emma left while Peter had to stay because Flash got him into detention.

Emma used the good weather and walked home.

She was really surprised to see Flash near the Tower but decided to go in any way. He had nothing to do with her and she had her intern badge to get in but she was wrong.

“Hey Smith! Sneaking in the Tower? They would never let you in or did Peter get you a fake badge like his?”

She stopped and heard him and his friends getting closer.

“I have my own badge and it is real just like Peter's. So why don't you go mind your own business?”

She turned to face him.

“Oh so that's why you two get along. With your lies about internships at SI. They would never chose such losers!”

Emma just sighed and turned to enter the Tower. With her badge she got through security and went up to the private floor where she grabbed a quick snack. She went to her room and began her homework.

After she finished it she went to go see a movie in the living room. At nearly the middle of the movie she was joined by her father.

“Hey sweetie. How was school?”

He had a bag of blueberries and a coffee.

“Good. Everyone still talks about that 'Ninja' girl. And we have a surprise field trip on Friday together with the decathlon team. But our physics teacher doesn't tell us where we go. Like not at all. It is not even on the permission slip!”

She handed her dad the paper she had put in her pocket. “And got any further with that Ninja girl?”

Tony signed the slip careful to write Smith instead of Stark. “Kinda. At least we know how she got to it. She even offered her help if we ever needed it. And luckily she has no spider-powers. We have enough bug-themed super heroes with Peter.”

“And Hope and that Scott”

He just rolled his eyes.

Since the 'civil war' a lot had happened. Tony helped mercy the rouges and came to terms with Steve. He didn't forgive him but came to terms with it.

Bucky was in Wakanda to get the hydra crack out of his mind and Tony even teamed up with princess Shuri to make a new arm for him.

Black Panther, Antman, Spider-Man and the Falcon joined the Avengers. Later the Wasp joined too.

They dumped the Accords completely and it was established to never make a list for the enhanced again so they would be saver.

All in all it was a pretty fairytale like outcome for what had happened.

After they finished the movie they facetimed with Pepper and ate sandwiches. Emma then went to her room and said good night.

She packed her bag for the next day and went to sleep after spending a good hour looking through Instagram watching edits of the Avengers and Spider-man. Some of those fan-pages were really good at that.


	4. school's two sides (also known as breaks and classes...)

It was Wednesday and as Emma got up she saw a little note on her desk.

'Avengers needed. Back before Midnight ly dad'

She was upset for a moment but then got up quickly. “Fri, could you start my music?”

The next moment the penthouse was filled by the sound of her singing along the soundtrack of 'Hamilton'.

She changed into jeans and an old SI shirt she had cropped to not look like a dress.

It was pretty warm outside so she took cute sandals instead of her sneakers. She grabbed her phone and went to the elevator after breakfast.

She took her headphones too and continued to listen to her music during her way to school.

She was just on time as she entered the classroom with her books but still sat down in the back.

She was in a good mood because the theater director had announced over text this morning that they would make the cast list for the next show today without big auditions. Everyone would have the chance to say something about the roles and cast. And the best thing they would start after lunch and everyone was excused for their classes!

Yeah, it will be messy but that is better than PE. A lot better than PE.

At lunch she met up with Peter and Ned in the back and surprisingly they didn't talk about 'Ninja'.

“Man. Why the heck does he not tell us were we go?!”

“Hey guys!”

They looked but kept on ranting about the field trip and how no one knew where they'd go.

“Ehm...guys. You sure know that I'm coming too. It is my 'baby physics class' that is going.”

“Really?”

“Yep...”

They made sure that as soon as someone of them knew where they'd go they would text it in the group chat. And after that the topic changed back to the 'Ninja' and soon Emma had to leave for theater club.

It turned out that the teacher was just too lazy to do regular auditions because there were a lot of roles. Like a really lot.

They were going to do 'Hamilton'. That would take a lot more rehearsals than any play they ever did before and literally every girl wanted to be Angelica. The Altos went on Peggy and a few wanted Eliza.

At the end of the day Emma was understudy for Eliza and second understudy for Angelica because the others didn't quit get the rap parts. Besides from that she was just a normal ensemble member but she was happy with it. Of course she would have liked to get Eliza or Angelica but she was not very confident singing solo in front of people. But she could do it if she had to.

She got home earlier than she thought. Even earlier than normally.

She just grabbed a snack from the kitchen, threw her backpack in her room and went to work a bit in her lab. She could do her homework later.

She often worked on projects that were pushed aside for more urgent ones from the Avengers like Peters web shooters. She started to build the new ones or at least do what the machines could not.

She was finished pretty fast and decided on giving them Peter tomorrow before school. With her headphones on she went to the elevator and got to the penthouse.

There she slid out of her shoes and went to her room to do her homework that was pretty easy. She ended the day with an hour of training combat and parkour.

The next morning Pepper greeted her with breakfast. While they ate breakfast they talked about their week and what was going on in the world.

They actually talked a bit too long and Pepper had to drive Emma to school.

At school everyone was still talking about the 'Ninja'. God, how she hated that name but she couldn't think of a good one.

In the hallway Flash tried to talk to her or something but was pulled away by one of his friends who had found a new pic of Spider-Man.

Emma gave back the permission slip for the field trip in physics but they didn't even get a hint from their teacher. He only said that Mr. Harrington was going to be on the field trip instead of him.

In her next class someone accidentally tripped over her backpack and nearly revealed the web shooters but luckily Emma noticed it right away and covered them with a book.

At lunch she found out that she didn't needed to bring them because Peter had a lab day today.

After school Peter and Emma walked to the Tower together. He told her that MJ would come tomorrow. She had been sick over the last few days.

They reached the Tower and got up to the labs. While Peter joined Bruce in the big lab, Emma went to her lab.

She tinkered a bit but eventually went up to her room and read a bit. Pepper brought her a snack when she had a break between two meetings and so Emma didn't leave her room. She decided to cook dinner and made spaghetti with a tomato sauce.

It was more a coincidence that the Starks ate together.

While Pepper and Tony talked about SI Emma had already moved on to her dessert. After she finished her ice cream she put away her dishes and went back to her room. If she had stayed a little longer she would have heard about the school class coming to the Tower tomorrow.

The next morning she changed quickly and then grabbed a bag. She tossed her badge, wallet and StarkPad in it because she had forgotten to pack her bag yesterday. She grabbed her black leather jacket and got out with a sandwich to eat.

She had forgotten that they met earlier than usual for the field trip despite the field trip being literally the whole day.

She caught the train on time and was surprisingly early. She met up with Ned and Peter and got introduced to MJ. She was a bit weird but honest and was very smart.

Mr. Harrington seemed a bit nervous as he asked everyone to get in the yellow bus.

Peter sat with MJ and Ned with Emma.

Everyone was speculating about their destination until they arrived at a familiar building. As Emma and Peter realised where they had stopped they just wanted to disappear.

“Surprise! We'll be touring the Stark Tower today!”

Flash was more than happy. “Hey. Penis. Ready to see your and your little friend's lies exposed.”

Great. As they got out of the bus Peter and Emma made sure to be in the back.

”Did you know about this?”

“No. I wouldn't have come. Just hope that my dad won't come around...”

As they got up the stairs they prayed that everything would be alright. In the lobby everyone looked around in awe while Peter and Emma hoped to not be recognized by any of the passing employees.

The group came to a stop as their tour guide greeted them. Emma was surprised to see Rick but she didn't really listened as he explained the badges and the security system. She was just glad she had thrown her intern badge in her bag this morning.

“Everyone of you will get a visitor badge. They will deactivate as the tour ends so don't even try to sneak in with them.”

He called out the names on the badges and handed them out. Ned and MJ were the last ones to get their badges and thankfully Rick had just ignored Peter and Emma on the list he was still holding.

After he reminded the students to wear the badges visible they made their way to the security gate.

“Rick, Intern. Welcome.”

Rick stepped trough it first to demonstrate the gates. He quickly introduced FRIDAY to the group and told them that she's gonna read their badges.

Flash was the first one to calm down and ran to be the first in line. He behaved like he owned the building.

Emma was the last one to step trough the gate but thankfully FRIDAY had picked up her wish to not read out her and Peter's badges.

The group's attention was already with Happy who explained the levels of the security system. As Emma joined the group and Happy noticed her and Peter he stopped for a moment but moved on rather quickly. He wished the students a good day and stayed at the gates as the group headed to one of the elevators.

Until lunch they toured the lower levels. It kinda felt like touring a museum.

As they entered the cafeteria Rick told them they had one hour to eat lunch and as soon as the students saw the choices they were blown away. While the majority of the group stood there Emma, Peter, MJ and Ned got their food and went to sit down in the back.

After a while the others also sat down with their food. Some of them were a bit upset because at the gates their phones had been collected. So no one had a phone but Peter and Emma.

As an Avenger and a Stark they were allowed to have their phones with them but thank god no one had noticed it. It kinda backfired as Tony texted them both.

'Back from mission. Lab day later?'

They both flinched at their ringtones. The whole group turned to look at them.

“Why do they have their phones!??!”

Shit. Out of all people it had to be Flash to scream across the room.

“It's ok Thompson. They are interns. They have higher clearance than the rest of you and FRIDAY can connect to their phones...”

That made Flash shut up but he glared at them.

Emma looked apologetic at Rick while Peter already read the message and tried to talk to Emma.

“He has no clue, right?”

“Nope.” She sent an answer to the group chat.

'Sry field trip ends late...'

He was a genius he could figure out that they were on a field trip in his Tower.

He did not.

As the group was in the Avengers museum he decided to make an appearance. Everyone immediately rushed in his direction and asked questions while Peter and Emma stayed back and looked at one of the new exhibits.

“Hey...how about we take this Q&A to another location?”

The group was now headed to one of the meeting rooms just one floor higher. While some students were starstruck and others asking question after question Peter and Emma tried to not be seen.

While Tony told a bit about the last missions the students calmed down and finally sat down. Tony's look went through the rows of students but he suddenly stopped.

As Emma looked up she knew why. Peter had also looked up and blushed.

Tony quickly moved on. As he finished only a few people had questions.

“Parker and Smith pretend to have an internship with you but no highschoolers are allowed! How could they fake the badges?” Of course Flash had to ask.

“Their badges are real. Sometimes SI ignores the rules for little geniuses.” He looked at Flash the whole time and was now about to pick the next student.

“But she is a dumb freshmen and he a loser. I'm much smarter than both of them!”

Really?! He just had to make things worse.

“Ok. First of all: Emma is smarter than you just like Peter. Second: If you are that smart how about you make something to prove that. You probably have the new StarkPhone, right?”

Flash nodded too scared to say something.

“Well, Emma designed the new software and helped with the camera. And Peter helps me with Avengers stuff all the time. So? Got proves?”

Flash was pale.

“No, Sir.”

Tony had to drive into full dad-mode. It was silent for a moment but Tony just moved on and answered the next questions.

After a while Rick spoke up. “I'm sorry Mr. Stark but if we want to finish the tour we have to continue now.” He was still a bit confused by the sudden appearance of his Boss.

“Yeah. Sure.” The students were headed to the elevator as Peter and Emma tried to fade in the little crowd.

“Smith. Parker. I need you in the lab.”

Slowly Peter and Emma turned around when Mr. Harrington spoke up.

”I'm sorry Mr. Stark but they don't have the permission to leave the field trip.”

Emma had to hold in a laugh.

“It's fine. They had to work after school no matter the circumstances.”

The teacher didn't argue so Emma and Peter were left alone with Tony in the meeting room while the other students went on with the tour.

“Hey..dad...”

He made sure the door was closed.

“So you both had no intention on telling me that your field trip is here.”

“I'm sorry Mr. Stark I thought you knew. And we only knew it since this morning. The teachers didn't tell us.”

“Yeah I'm not talking about that. The text. Why didn't you text me?”

“We didn't think you would show up on our field trip and we had a bit trouble explaining why we had our phones.”

They talked a bit longer about the field trip and thankfully not Flash.

“Ok. But I actually need you in the lab so...let's go.”

They went up to the lab floor with the private elevator. As they entered the big lab Tony explained the problem they had with a new gadget.

“Maybe the material is too heavy...that slows it down.”

She had looked at it a bit longer.

“Yep. The material is too heavy. Maybe try vibranium. It's lighter and durable enough...”

While Emma looked at the gadget Peter looked at the 'bullets' for it.

“The formula is a bit unstable but I think I can fix it...”

He already went to get a few chemicals.

“So..what is this for?” Emma asked as she worked a bit on the holographic version of the gadget.

“We want to use if nothing helps to catch that 'Ninja' ...you know”

Emma gulped. Good to know that the Avengers had no problem with using chemical weapons to catch her.

“Ok...but don't you think it's a bit...extreme”

“That's why this is the last thing we'll use. She is really good. We can't track her and we have no clue how she travels.”

“Ok...but you'll find a way to track her..”

“Yeah. Of course.”

They tinkered for the rest of the afternoon. Peter tested a new version of his web fluid after he finished the 'bullets' and Tony worked on his suit while Emma created a new update for Natasha's Widow Bites.

“Midtown Tech has left the Tower.” FRIDAY interrupted the three in the lab.

“Good. Thanks, Fri.”

“What?! How long have been working?” Emma had taken a quick look at the clock. It was nearly 7 pm.

“We should get something to eat. How about Burgers?”

They agreed and FRIDAY ordered the usual for them as they made their way to the penthouse. As they sat down on the couch Pepper stepped out of the elevator and joined the three on the couch.

“How was everyone's day?”

“Good. Until dad decided to show up on our field trip and indirectly threaten one of Peter's classmates.”

“Yeah. But we made it a lab day after that. And maybe they believe me now that I have an internship.”

Pepper looked a bit confused but turned to face Tony.

“In my defence. I didn't know that it was their group and now that Flash kid knows that Peter is really working for me.”

Pepper looked done with the world. “You signed the permission slip for this field trip and they both told you about it. How did you not know it?”

They just rolled their eyes as Tony turned on the TV instead of answering Pepper.

Soon the burgers arrived and they turned from watching TV to discussing what sauce was best for burgers.

After a while Peter suited up and swung home while Emma went to her room and changed. She watched another movie before eventually going to sleep. Thank god it was Friday there was no need for her to set an alarm or wake up early.

The next morning as Emma woke up she heard voices from the living room.

“Ok, Tony. But we have nothing. And we don't even know how to contact her. So how do you think on getting her here?”

“Yeah. And we have no reason to trust her.”

“But we have also no reason to not trust her. And she is the only hero that has never been on a real mission.”

“And that is good? But anyway. Tony's right. She is the only one that could get in there undetected and without being suspicious.”

Why the heck were the Avengers here?! Crap! She was trapped in her room. But at least she could change and take a shower.

After she was really awake she still had no clue what to do. She couldn't walk trough the living room and out of the window would give away that she is the 'Ninja'.

“She is probably just a kid, Tony. Even though she seems to be good we have no idea if she has powers. We have literally nothing about her.”

Great. From the voices Natasha, Bruce, Clint, Steve and her dad were discussing something in the living room.

“You know what? If you can get her here we could talk to her and Then decide if we like or not.”

“Yeah sounds good.”

“Ok...you guys are picky...”

She heard how Tony rushed the others into the elevator while she tried not to laugh.

“What was that about?”

Her father flinched in surprise. ”Nothing too important. We just have a mission and we need help.”

Ok...that was new. She simply shrugged and walked over to the kitchen to eat brunch. It was definitely too late for breakfast.

“And the compound is nearly ready for move-in.”

Someone had messed up the interior design and a few of the bathrooms and labs so Tony had to get it fixed before they could finally move in. It had taken longer than expected and Tony had been stressed out by it so they never really talked about it in the last month. He was also busy with scolding Peter for the fight with the vulture.

“So...got everything fixed?” She had grabbed a bowl of cereal and some fruit.

“Yep. Labs move in three days and Avengers in four.”

She dropped her spoon. “What?! I have FOUR days to pack?!”

“Yeah. But don't worry. I'll sign you out of school if you need more time.”

She glared at him. He knew exactly that she hated to miss school. After she put away her dishes she already put her hair up in a messy bun.

“I'll start with the lab...so if you need me...you know where to find me...” She made her way down still barefoot. It was just too hot. As she walked into her lab she grabbed her headphones and started her music sighing as she looked around at the messy shelves.


	5. moving (not went that smooth...)

After three hours and a lot of snacks she had finished the shelves and was now onto her desks and the things that just laid around.

Another hour later she fell onto her couch looking at the boxes filled to the top and about three trash bags full of old things. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Packing up the lab was not really exhausting it was just so draining but the only thing left now was her holo-desk. Yay.

She sat up again and started to save all her files on an USB stick. The files on the SI servers didn't need a back-up. She took the stick and put it into a box full of prototypes. After she looked up on her phone which number her lab at the compound would have she labelled the boxes and went up to the penthouse now in a pair of sneakers she had lying around her lab just in case.

As she entered the penthouse she was met with a lot of open boxes and her mum packing up the decorations.

“Hey mum. Need help?”

Pepper looked up from the box she was labelling at the moment and came over to Emma.

“Hey sweetie! I don't really need help with this but you could order dinner. Just pick something you like.”

“'Kay.” Passing a few more boxes she got to her room and opened a list of restaurants on her StarkPad. She decided to pick Thai and asked FRIDAY to order the usual.

As she turned to help her mum she noticed the boxes standing behind her door. Right she had to pack up her stuff too. While she was packing her books into one of the boxes her father came into her room.

”Dinner's here. And the first departments already moved successfully to the compound.”

They went back to the living room and sat down on the couch. As the three ate together they laughed about some of the things Pepper found while packing up.

“The employees are really fast with packing up by the way. Most of them are ready tomorrow.”

“Probably because their labs are not total messes. And your deadline is kind of stressing..I mean 3 days? Really?”

He threw pillow in her direction but missed.

“If someone doesn't distract me I'm fished tomorrow too.”

Pepper glared at Tony.

“The others are mostly finished. The only thing missing is the Avengers lab.”

“And what about you?”

“I started to pack up my lab...”

“I'm going to bed so you two can continue to compete with.. whatever...good night.” Emma went to her room and finished packing up her books before she changed into her suit and snuck out.

She stopped a robbery and helped a few people find their way home before she settled down on a roof top. Just a few moments later a friendly Spider sat down next to her.

“Hey”

She turned to face him. “Hey. What do you want?”

“Ouch. Can't I just sit with another vigilante without wanting something?”

“What. Do. You. Want.”

“Okay you got me...”

He stood up and Emma followed.

“I actually was asked to ask you if you would meet with the Avengers? They need help from someone no one has really seen...”

She sighed. So they were taking about her this morning and needed her for a mission.

“Only if I can wear my mask and at night.”

“I'll ask them but thanks anyway.”

“No problem. I help where I can.”

“See you around!” Peter swung away headed to Queens.

Emma also turned to the edge of the roof and flew back home. She hid her suit and laid down in bed. Exhausted from the day of packing she was soon fast asleep.

“Rise and shine, Emma.”

It was Sunday, right? Then why the heck did her father wake her up?!

“Get out!” She threw a pillow at him but missed.

“Come on. We have to pack up.”

Emma eventually got up and went to the living area.

“Morning.”

She grabbed the smoothie her mother had prepared for her and went back to her room.

“I'll pack my stuff up...”

In her room she looked around and sighed. It was not as messy as her lab but still it was a lot of stuff. She opened an empty box and set it on top of the box filled with her books. She started with her desk and her stuff for school. After her work space was empty and the box full she turned to her closet.

It took her about two hours to completely empty it and fit everything in the boxes. Especially her bags took a lot of space away. Before she moved on she made a quick snack-break.

Next of was her bathroom which was rather quick.

Last but not least she removed all the pictures from the walls and packed up her posters and postcards. She labelled her boxes and brought the first ones to the living room.

“See Emma is still packing..I'm not the last one.”

She chuckled. “Actually. There's only my purse left...so...” She said, putting a box of clothes down.

“Then we are all ready to move?” Pepper looked on a list on her StarkPad.

“Yep.” “Yes.” Tony and Emma had to bring the boxes to the living area.

Emma went back once more and grabbed her bag. She froze in her movement as she looked out of the windows of the Tower for the last time. It was a sunny day and the streets were busy. At least she had no school tomorrow. She turned around and closed the door one last time.

“I'm ready.”

Even though a lot of things could ruin the secret she was to everyone they still moved on the same day as the Avengers and most of the labs. They were already loading the boxes on one of the jets as Tony and Emma went down to the garage. Only a black Audi was left.

As the two were approaching the Audi Pepper stepped out of the elevator and joined them. They got in the car and drove off to the compound. The car ride turned into a carpool karaoke. As they reached the building the jet had already been unloaded and their things were already in their living quarters.

The Avengers had moved earlier this morning and were now unpacking their things which made it easier for Emma to get past them without being seen.

Pepper already checked if the right boxes were brought to the penthouse as Emma tried to figure out behind which door her room was. It was the last door she looked trough.

Her furniture had already been built so she could immediately start to put her stuff in the shelves. She could but she didn't.

The first thing she did was to slip out of her shoes and jump on her new bed. After a few minutes of just laying there she eventually got up and started to open the boxes. To start light she put her books on the shelves followed by setting up her desk again. As she found her headphones again she started to listen to music while she put all her clothes and bags in her closet.

Next was her bathroom before she put her posters and pictures up on the walls. Last but not least she hid her suit she had carried in her bag and put her pillows on her bed.

She brought the empty boxes to the living room and grabbed a quick snack before heading to her new lab. It was lighter than her old one and definitely not as messy but she hadn't unpacked the boxes next to the door.

After the boxes were empty once again the lab was organised. It would probably never look like this again.

Emma went back up and ate a sandwich for dinner before heading to her room once again. Done with the world she fell onto her bed and fell asleep as her head hit the pillow.

As Emma woke up the next morning she was a bit confused about where she was. But she quickly remembered the move-in from yesterday.

She got up happy about the free Monday and took a shower. Fresh and fully awake she made her way to the kitchen and grabbed a yoghurt as her breakfast.

She sat down on the balcony and enjoyed the moment.

The moment was over as an Iron man suit landed next to her and her father stepped out.

“Isn't it a bit early to fly around in your coke can?”

Tony just shook his head. “Morning you too.”

Without another word she got up and went to the kitchen. As she sat down on the couch her father stepped inside and the Ironman suit made its way to the lab.

“Now you have to let Happy drive you to school...”

She hadn't really thought about school. But being driven by Happy wasn't the end of the world so she just shrugged and turned on the TV.

As Tony sat down next to her the news were talking about the new Avengers compound and the move-in. As they talked about the jets that carried most of the things from the Tower to the compound they made a quick throwback to the Vulture attack on the original move-in day.

After the news ended Emma got up and went to her lab.

“I'll make it a lab day...see ya'”

The private labs were just one floor below the penthouse and one above the Avengers common area. After sorting her files on the holo-desk and uploading all her playlists she started her music and worked on the Widow Bites with the newest singles of her favourite band in the background.

After a while Peter came trough the door unnoticed by Emma he sneaked up behind her and scared her.

“God! Peter!” She screamed at him while he laughed and nearly forgot to breathe.

“Why the hell do you sneak up on me?!”

“Sorry..it was too perfect..to waste...the chance..” He now sat on the couch still laughing.

“Fair. So what do you want?”

“Just wanted to say thanks for the new web shooters...and look what you're doing..”

She chuckled. “No problem. And Update for the Widow Bites. How's it going with that 'ninja'?”

She teased him with memes and fan-art all the time.

“She wants to help with that new mission we got. The others want to meet her first 'cause they don't trust her...”

She threw herself onto the couch next to Peter.

“At least the boy band's getting more braincells.”

Peter jumped onto the ceiling and snatched her phone out of her hands.

“Hey!”

“It's lunch time by the way.”

That was why he was down here. To get her out of her lab.

“You couldn't have said that earlier?!”

She jumped onto her feet and made her way to the door while Peter still stuck to the ceiling.

“You coming?”

He flipped back onto the floor and joined her.

“You have to show off?”

She closed her lab and walked to the elevator. As the two teenagers entered the penthouse Pepper was already rushing back out to another meeting and Tony was headed towards the Avengers floor.

They made sandwiches and ate them on the balcony as Ned called Peter.

He picked up and was greeted by a very excited Ned asking question over question. Emma set across the table and had to hold in her laugh. Ned didn't know who she was and she wanted that to stay this way at least for now.

She got up while the boys were nerding out about a new Lego set. As she snatched her phone from the table she walked back in. She was already halfway to her room as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. As she saw the people entering the penthouse she went in full panic-mode and ran to the next door to hide. Why the heck were Captain America and Black Widow in the penthouse?

Luckily they hadn't noticed Emma sneaking out of the room as they made their way to Peter on the balcony.

“Spider-boy! Are you coming for our little party in the common area?”

Peter looked up from the video call with Ned. “That's now?!”

Natasha leaned onto a chair as Steve stood in the doorway.

“Yeah, Queens. Wanna come?”

He excused himself from Ned but before he could set his phone aside he got a panicked text from Emma.

'Can you get 'em out? They dont know...'

He sighed looking at the pleading smileys that followed.

“Sure. Why not?” He stood up and nearly run to the elevator. Surprised by the sudden enthusiasm from the young hero the two Avengers were caught off guard.

“You coming?” The elevator doors had already opened as Natasha and Steve joined Peter.

'clear'

Emma relaxed as she read the text from Peter. That was close. Normally the Avengers had no clearance to enter the penthouse without Tony or Pepper.

The rest of the day Emma read and enjoyed the weather on the balcony with background music from the heroes two floors down.

After she watched the sunset she went to go to sleep. She still had school tomorrow.

Woken by her alarm Emma quickly got ready and grabbed a sandwich on her way to the garage where Happy was already waiting for her. She got in the car as Peter ran out of the elevator and nearly jumped into the car.

“Everyone here?”

“Yup.”

Happy drove out of the garage and made his way through the New York traffic to Midtown Tech.

“Thanks, Hap.”

The teenagers got out of the car and walked over to Ned and MJ.

“Hey, man. How's the compound?”

Ned started right away to ask questions about the compound and MJ and Emma talked about the things going on in the world. The four went to get their books for their classes and eventually Emma went alone to her class. Thankfully the field trip on Friday made most of her classmates believe her internship at Stark Industries so the comments were now mostly about her appearance and mostly about her hair but nothing new. She could handle that.

At lunch she sat with MJ, Ned and Peter at their usual table.

“Flash hasn't said one word about my internship today! That is weird..but in a good way!”

“No comments for me too!”

They talked a while about the changed behaviour from their classmates, especially from Flash. MJ read her book while Peter and Ned talked about Star Wars once more and Emma scrolled through her phone.

After lunch and school Emma had her first rehearsal. They would first practice the songs then choreo and then both together. Given that there are nearly fifty songs it'll take a lot of rehearsals to get on stage.

As Emma sat in the back of the black Audi she already started her homework at least the one she didn't do during the rehearsal. As Happy reached the compound he had to immediately pick up someone so Emma nearly jumped out of the car and Happy drove off instantly.

She pulled her headphones out of her backpack and made her way to the penthouse. On the way to her room she grabbed an apple from the kitchen.

Listening to 'Hamilton' she went to her room. Exhausted from the rehearsal she fell onto her bed her bag falling with a thud onto the floor. After a few minutes she got up and changed into more comfortable clothes before sitting down at her desk and doing the rest of her homework.

As she got a few snacks from the kitchen she didn't even notice the man sitting on the couch and starring at her confused.

As she left the living area again Tony got out of the elevator.

“Who is that girl?”

“What girl, Bruce? You have to be more specific...”

Dr. Banner looked from Tony to the door Emma just closed and back. “The teenager...she kinda looked like you?”

Tony's eyes widened with shock. “... gimme a second..”

As he entered Emma's room he asked FRIDAY to stop her music.

“Hey!” She turned away from her tablet to face her dad even though she nearly fell asleep looking over the blueprints.

“Hey you too. I think you missed something...” He gestured in the direction of the snacks on her desk.

“No...I think I have everything, thanks..”

“Not talking about snacks...” Just as he wanted to tell her what she had missed they could hear a loud and realising 'wait!' from the living room. Not a moment later Bruce stood in the doorway.

“Is she your...daughter?...” He hadn't noticed the girl sitting at the desk.

“Shit...”

Bruce now looked at Emma as she shyly waved at him. He waved back confused.

“In my defense...I didn't see him....and I'm tired...”

“That is not helping.” Tony sighed and decided that it wouldn't make any sense to think of a cover story.

“Bruce meet Emma.” He simply introduced them as if Bruce wasn't confused at all.

“Hey!” Emma was now fully awake again.

“Hi..” The confusion didn't leave the scientist's face.

Emma stood up from her desk and held out her hand Bruce shook hesitantly.

“I'm Bruce Banner...nice to meet you”

After a quick look at her father Emma responded. “I'm Emma Stark. Nice to meet you too.”

The confusion slowly faded into realisation. “So.. you're Tony's...he's your...?”

She sighed. “Yep. He's my dad. But that's a secret...'cause I don't wanna be followed around by paparazzi.”

After a few moments Bruce had processed the news. “You kinda look like that intern...”

“Emma Smith?” Bruce nodded. “Yeah. That's me actually... as a cover name I use Smith...”

They explained everything to Bruce and he was very surprised at the end.

“I never really saw you as someone with a family if I'm being honest, Tony.”

“I know...but please remember: the others don't know and I'd like it to stay that way...”

The scientist agreed and left the room together with Tony after saying goodbye.

“This kinda explains why you're so good with Peter...”

“What?” The two were still talking and Emma could still hear them.

“You know...you kinda treat him like...a...son...”

It wasn't the first time Tony had heard that and Emma laughed in the background as Tony just quickly changed the subject.

“You need to fix the clearance, dad!”

She shoutedafter them before the elevator doors closed. By now it was really late so Emma decided to go to sleep. She eventually fell asleep while watching YouTube videos.

Later that night Pepper stuck her head through the door and switched of Emma's tablet as she planted a kiss on her forehead. Tony had already told her what happened. She wasn't really mad. She knew that sooner or later at least the people closest to them would meet Emma and Bruce was very supportive.


	6. Meetings(the ones we like...)

Gladly Tony fixed the clearance levels so the other Avengers wouldn't walk in the penthouse without anyone knowing. The next day they had a few close calls with some of the Rouges discussing whether or not it was a good idea to ask 'that ninja' to help with the mission.

After the long day of school and her homework Emma took her time for a much needed nap...which in the end was about three hours long and was ended by Pepper calling for dinner.

She was surprised that her father wasn't there.

“Ohh. He's in the city the Team wants to meet someone tonight...”

Emma knew exactly what she was talking about as she mentioned that Peter's bringing that someone to them. After dinner was finished she said goodnight to her mum and went to her room. Instead of changing into her pjs she put on her suit and snuck out trough the window.

It took her only minutes to reach the city with her thrusters. As she reached Queens she landed on a roof and continued to jump across the roofs of New York. Before Spider-Man found her on his patrol Emma had already stopped a mugging and helped a kid find his parents.

“Hey!”

Peter waved from a building across the street as he spotted her in the dark. He quickly made his way to her.

“What do you want Spidey?”

She stepped out of the shadow to have a better look at him.

“You remember when you said you would meet with the Avengers?”

She relaxed a bit. “Yeah. I said only at night and without unmasking...”

The young hero seemed a bit nervous. “How about...tonight?..” He looked at her questioning. As questioning as you could look with a full face mask and moving eye lenses.

“Why not...” She shrugged her shoulders.

“Ok...can you follow me?”

She smiled a little under her mask. He kind of sounded like a waiter leading someone to their table. “Sure..but I'm not as fast as you..”

Running across the roofs of New York following Peter felt like playing catch in a rather extreme way.

After a few minutes they stopped on a roof.

“A little warning before we go there...” He gestured to building on the other side of the street. “...the only ones missing are Thor and Hulk...” He looked at her for a moment.

“We're on the wrong side of the street...”

“What?”

Emma walked over to the edge and gestured down to the street. “I can't swing or jump over that street.”

“Oh. Sorry.” He thought for a moment before standing beside her. “You trust me?” He held out a hand.

No clue what his plan was she grabbed it. As he grabbed her tighter and jumped off the roof she regretted her decision immediately. Shooting a web at the building he had pointed at earlier he pulled them back above the roofs.

They landed on the one the Avengers were already on. A bit confused by the way she got there Emma didn't say anything.

“So you're the 'Ninja' everyone's talking about...” It was her dad that began to speak. “Nice to meet you.”

Her look wandered over to Captain America.

“Hello.”

Natasha and Clint greeted her while the other heroes on the roof waved at her.

“Hey...”

It was a bit funny to see her dad in one of his expensive suits while the other heroes wore their uniforms.

“So...” He gestured to a group of heroes to make their move.

Steve stepped forward. “You seem younger than they say...how old are you, Ninja?”

Emma sighed. “First of all: My name is not 'Ninja' ...and I am 14...”

The super soldier seemed not a bit surprised. “So you're 14 and run across the roofs of New York to fight crime...”

“Do you have any powers, a gimmick or something like that?” The others looked at the Falcon. “What? Feels like everybody's got a gimmick now...”

“Is that important?” With the looks on everyone's faces it seemed more logical to not answer that question. “Spidey said you wanted to meet 'cause some of you don't trust me...can I do anything to gain your trust?...” She had a long day of school tomorrow and just wanted to get this over with. “Unmasking is off limits though...”

After a short silence Bucky spoke up. “Why are you doing this? I mean why are you jumping from roof to roof saving the people?”

The team turned to look at him in surprise.

“...it's one thing I can do...help people that can't help themselves...it's...giving back to the world for all the things I have and trying to bring hope back to the hopeless and make their lifes just a little bit easier 'cause I know that life can be hard but it sometimes helps to see that there are people looking out for you...” That went farther than she thought but ok...

“I trust her...” The Russian spy was the first one to break the silence on the rooftop as her teammates still looked at the girl.

The next to speak up was Clint. “Yeah..she seems alright...”

One by one the heroes agreed to trust her until Tony spoke up to at least get somewhere tonight.

“So we're agreeing on trusting you..even though I already trusted you...anyway we need your help. Since you've never been seen in daylight and there're no photos of you, you're the best option we have...” He handed her a file.

She hesitantly took it and opened it. The first thing to catch her eye was a photo of a weapon. She looked up at the billionaire in front of her.

“And..what's about this weapon?”

He smirked. “That's a photon blast gun. It's still a prototype but very close to actually work. The company is refusing to give it to Shield and to the world it doesn't exist. They hide it in a high security lab in upstate New York to work on it and test it.”

Emma didn't like where this was going but concentrating on not giving away any hints to her dad she looked a bit trough the file.

“The mission is to secure it.”

“You want me to steal it?” She wasn't really surprised.

“And delete their researches, yes.”

Taking a deep breath she looked back up. “Why me though? I have no experience on breaking in and stealing.”

The Black Widow took a step forward. “You are the only that has never been seen, so they might think it was just a normal criminal and we're gonna help you...”

Before she could explain more Peter landed next to her and scared Emma a little. She hadn't noticed that he had been gone. “They'll be your guys in the chair.”

“That is ridiculous Underoos. We're gonna lead you over comms. Tell you where to go and what to do and that stuff”

She nodded along. “That makes it easier. So when are we gonna start?” She looked around at the team of heroes.

“We were planning on Saturday night.”

Before Natasha could continue she was once more interrupted by Spider-Man. “I'm sorry guys but I gotta go. Bye everyone. Bye Mister Stark.” He swung away into the night.

“I don't wanna stress you or anything but I have school tomorrow so...”

Clint made it shorter before the spy could continue. “Yeah. We meet after sunset. Rest is in there.” He pointed at the file still in Emma's hands.

“Ok. See you?”

“You'll only meet up with Tony, Natasha and Clint. The rest of us will be on stand-by in case something goes wrong.” The super soldier went up to her and held out his hand. “Welcome to the team.”

She shook his hand mildly confused. “I'm not an Avenger. Not now and not planning to be...but it's good to work with you.” She waved at the now mildly shocked Avengers before turning around and making her way to the next roof.

“Did she just say no to being an Avenger? Man, that kid's tough...” Sam was the first one to turn to the door and make his way down the stairs. The others quickly followed oblivious to the girl flying trough the night.

Emma woke up to her dad bursting into her room. “Morning, Sunshine!”

She groaned as he snatched her blanket. “You got school! No time to stay in bed!”

Not fully awake she threw a pillow at him. Eventually she got ready for school. Even though Thursdays were pretty chill she nearly fell asleep in class. She probably stayed up too late looking trough the file the Avengers gave her.

Thankfully she wasn't needed at the rehearsal, they were practising the songs without ensemble. Looking forward to the free afternoon she called Happy to pick her up. She had to wait a few minutes but not too long.

As he pulled up to the school Emma already walked up to the car. She quickly got in.

“Rehearsal cancelled?”

“Only for ensemble...”

While they were stuck in the traffic Emma did her homework. As they reached the compound she was already done with it.

She quickly threw her bag in her room before going to her lab. The afternoon went by as she worked on the new Widow Bites.

“Up for dinner?”

Emma jumped at her father suddenly standing behind her.

“Ever heard of knocking?!”

She put her headphones aside and laid the Widow Bites on the desk.

“You coming or not?”

He already made his way to the hallway as Emma threw a screwdriver in his direction.

For dinner Pepper had made mac'n'cheese. While eating they joked around and talked about literally anything. After they finished Emma went to her room.

“It's still early...were you up too long yesterday?”

“No I just need to study a bit...”

She said goodnight and got ready for bed. She didn't lie about studying she just didn't study for school.

After making sure no one would burst into her room she took the file out of its hiding spot behind a framed photo. Last night she had only looked trough the first few pages. It basically was just information on the company and that gun she had to secure. While she tried to kind of sort the remaining pages something fell onto her bed. It was a very slim smart watch. To it stuck a little note.

'If you're trying to reach us...P.S. It has a camouflage mode activates when you wear it'

Sceptical about the device she took a closer look at it. It had no obvious tracker or something similar. As she thought of a plan to ask her father about it a message lit up on the tiny screen.

'Before you crush it or something: There is no tracker installed. This is just for communication in case we need your help or you ours...'

Still not completely convinced she set it aside and went on to the papers laying all around her on her bed and some on the floor. She sighed as she looked at them.

After looking through the first few pages she stopped and made two piles. One for all the information she had about the company, the facility and the security systems. The other one with everything about the gun and everything she thought would not be necessary. She looked trough the first pile reading the pages and trying to get as much as possible into her brain.

After an hour or two she hid the now kinda sorted file again and went to sleep.

Her late night study session had luckily not been too late. She aced the physics quiz the next morning. At lunch she chatted with Peter, MJ and Ned before she went back to class. It was a really calm day compared to the week before.

After she got got home that afternoon she took her time to train a bit. She put her focus on combat with armed opponents to prepare for tomorrow night. She took a shower and spent the rest of the afternoon on the balcony sketching a bit and relaxing in the sun.

“Wanna come in for dinner?”

Pepper had joined Emma on the balcony.

“Dinner sounds great!”

She jumped up and went inside where the table was already set and the food ready.

“How was school sweetie?”

They sat down together while Tony already put the first piece of lasagne on his plate.

“Pretty easy. Had a quiz in first period. Aced it.”

Tony was now putting food on her and Pepper's plate. They talked a lot about their day while eating.

“The new merchandise is set to release in a few days but nothing else is coming up for SI.”

Emma got ice cream as a dessert while her parents talked about SI stuff.

“What's up with your boy band, dad?”

She sat back down with the ice cream.

“Got a mission tomorrow. Nothing special.”

After they finished eating they went to sit down on the couch. It was Tony's turn too chose a movie to watch. They ended up watching 'The Breakfastclub'.

After the movie finished Emma went to her room. She took out the file again looking through her second pile with the less important information before continuing to study the blueprints of the facility and its vents. She would probably need a night vision or something to see in the dark. In general her systems needed an update. She had her 'display' between her hood and her mask not visible for other people but her. On that she would would work tomorrow but first sleep.

Packing up the file her look wandered to the watch. She left it out of the hiding spot as she put the file back in. Before actually going to sleep she scrolled a bit trough the internet. Tired she put her phone on her bedside table and shoved the watch in the first drawer. Soon she was fast asleep.

The next morning Emma woke up surprisingly early. Early for her on a Saturday.

She grabbed shorts and a shirt on her way to the bathroom. Putting her hair up in a messy bun she took out her suit before putting it in a bag.

On her way to the elevator she made a quick stop at the fridge to grab something for breakfast.

With a smoothie in her hand she went down to her lab. After making sure no one would be able to burst in she took out her suit and connected it to her computer. She sat down at her desk and began to add functions to the system and the A.I. with music on her ears.

Usually she never heard music while scripting but it was surprisingly easy. She was even faster than normally. By lunch she was finished with making her AI more advanced. She closed her lab as she left to go up to grab something for lunch.

As the doors of the elevator slid open she made herself a few sandwiches in the kitchen before going out to sit down in the sun.

After lunch Emma continued to upgrade her suit. She added night vision, made her AI be more independent and a lot more. Gladly she didn't need to code everything of that. She took most of it from old projects and altered it.

After she was finished for now she tested it. Another thing she changed was about the thrusters. She made them less eye catching making them less loud and she tried to turn down the glow at least a little bit.

After she fixed a few little mistakes she put it back in the bag and finished the Widow Bites. Before heading to the penthouse she made a quick stop at the Avengers lab. She put the Widow Bites on a desk with a little note before making her way to the elevator.

Before heading to her room she grabbed a snack from the kitchen. In her room she hid her suit before falling onto her bed. It was early afternoon but the work in the lab and considering the time of her meeting with the Avengers she decided on taking a nap instead of working on more projects.

Her mom woke her up for dinner. “What did you do today? You were now where to be seen..”

She yawned “Made it a lab and nap day...”

She shoved a spoon of noodles in her mouth before her father could question anything more. While eating they talked a lot about the compound and how it is going with the employees. They sat there long after the food was finished.

“I gotta go. The mission...see you.”

Tony stood up and made his way to the Avengers common area while Emma and Pepper stayed in the penthouse.

After finishing the dishes Emma went back to her room.

“I think I need a little more nap. Good night!” In her room she pulled out the wrist band from the Avengers and connected it to her laptop. She wanted to trust them but they made a weapon just in case they had to hunt her down so trust wasn't stable at the moment.

After looking trough everything and making sure there are no trackers or other things to spy on her she put it on her wrist. After it tightened around it it turned 'invisible'. She got used to it quickly and decided to already suit up.

After putting on her suit she fell onto her bed. The file in her hands she sat there. She decided to look trough it just to be sure she had read everything and was prepared.

Suddenly she heard her mother approach the room. She quickly got under her blanket showing only her head.

“You alright there?”

She quickly nodded. “Yeah. Everything's fine.”

Pepper said good night and closed the door behind her.

Emma got up hastily and looked the door. Thankfully it wouldn't bring up any questions because she often locks her door on the weekend so her dad can't burst in to wake her up on a Sunday.

In the file was a little note saying they would need it back so Emma decided to put it in another folder to prevent her from losing pages while flying. After she found one she sat down again and started to scroll trough Insta while it was getting dark outside. She didn't wanna show up to early just in case the Avengers had things to talk about without her being around so she was really surprised as her wrist buzzed.

'Meet in 15' with coordinates lit up on a little holographic screen from her wrist.


	7. First mission (not as smooth as hoped...)

'On my way' As she hopped on her bed she pulled up her mask before opening the window. As she looked into the young night a smile crept onto her face.

Pulling up her hood she flew out into the night sky. Thanks to her upgrades she had no problem with trees or other things before she had to land and walk the last bit. She had landed in a forest so no one could see the direction she came from.

“I thought she'd be faster...”

“Not everyone can fly, Tony.”

The Archer leaned onto the black van standing at the edge of the forest. Her dad was leaning against a tree as she reached the van.

“I don't know about you but I think she has potential...” Natasha joined the two men outside discussing about Emma without acknowledging her arrival.

“..Yeah. But we know literally nothing about that kid.”

Emma joined the group at that. “I'm not a kid. And you know my age. That's not nothing.”

A bit surprised by her appearance Tony tensed slightly.

“I think we can start now.” The Black Widow was the first to get in the van. While Clint got in in the front the other three climbed into the back.

“These are comms so we can talk to you and the other way around.” Natasha handed her said comms before turning to one of the monitors.

The back of the van was definitely bigger than it seemed from the outside. There were various monitors and a lot of other tech. “This will delete all data they have on the photon blast tech. It is important that you connect it to the main server or else they might be able to repair the documents.” He handed her something that could be described as an USB stick. She let it slide into on of her pockets.

“We're gonna drive as close as we can but after that you gonna be on your own.” Clint closed the little curtain between the front and the back of the van before starting the engine.

“I'm gonna tell you where you have to go and where the guards are.” The Russian spy turned back again to the screens.

“I'm gonna make sure the security system doesn't bother you in there.” Emma nodded along. “Any questions?”

She shook her head. “Nope. But I brought the file.” She put it on a free spot on the tiny desk.

“So you looked trough it?” Natasha seemed to have finished what she was doing before and turned to look at the girl.

“Yeah. Of course.”

It seemed to surprise the Avengers.

“You gonna need a flight in or you got it?”

Under her mask Emma had to hold in a laugh. No one of them knew she had thrusters to fly. They would eventually find out so why not now. “I'm good.” Tony looked sceptical at her but didn't ask.

“We're gonna be there in 5. So be ready!” The three were now changing seats so Emma could get out easier. She put the comms in her ears and connected them to her suit which was unnoticed by the billionaire next to her. The Archer stopped the black van and stuck his head into the back of the vehicle. Before anyone could say anything Emma opened the door and jumped out of the car.

“See ya'” She closed the door again before activating her night vision.

“How the hell is she gonna get on the roof?!”

“She said she was good so we'll see...” The three Avengers turned to look trough the windows to the facility in front of them.

“If she screws up, Fury's gonna kill us.” Clint tried to find a comfortable position to sit. A moment later they could see Emma stopping mid walk.

“What is she doing?” Clint was nearly glued to the glass trying to see how Emma activated the thrusters on her hands. She then looked up to the roof and took a few steps backwards.

“What-” “Barton we know as much as you. Stop asking questions.” Tony seemed to now be interested too.

Outside Emma started to run towards the fence not aware of the Avengers observing her. Just in time she took off and landed on the roof.

“Did you know she could do that?” Natasha had joined the men but went to face the monitors again activating the comms.

“I'm on the roof. No alarm so far. Which vent is it?”

While the Archer still looked out of the window Tony and Natasha were navigating Emma to the right vent. “You see the one at the edge on your right...it should open easily...”

Everyone had headsets on. Natasha sat in front of the buildings plans and a real time scan of the facility while navigating Emma. Tony had hacked the systems and looked at the cameras while Clint was looking out for approaching threats, ready to jump out and shoot one of his arrows. A tense silence filled the room as Emma opened the vents on the roof.

“I'm in.”

Tony let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

“Ok. Thankfully you don't have to stay in the vents for long...”

  
Turn right and then the fourth on the left...Even though she had no problem with small rooms and darkness she was happy as the instruction to go in the hallway came in. Before jumping out of the vents she quickly checked for guards. She froze in her movement for a split second as a guard crossed the hallway at the other end of the floor. Fortunately she wasn't seen and was now guided to the staircase.

“...the door on your left now...”

She was really nervous the whole time but now is not the time to freak out. She tried to open the door as calmly as she could. As the door closed and no guard could be seen Emma let out a breath. This was more stressfull than opening night.

“Up or down?”

There was one floor above her and plenty down stairs.

“Go as deep as you can...”

So down it was. As she looked down she sighed. There were a lot of stairs...like a hell of a lot. She was about three floors down when the sound of an opened door made her stop.

“Two guards. One floor beneath you...”

Fight or flight? Now it was getting serious but fight. She had to complete the mission. Her thrusters were deactivated to not leave marks that could lead to Iron Man or the Avengers. She walked down the stairs trying to get them to attack first but they stood with the back to her. She stopped on the top of the second flight of stairs to get a bit more force. She jumped down and used her landing to bring the first one down.

The second one turned around but was a bit too late. Emma had already prepared to kick him. The force seemed to have caught him off guard and he joined his buddy on the floor. She shocked them to be sure they wouldn't alarm anyone or follow her.

Stepping over the two guards she made sure their guns had no shots left. She continued going down the stairs without any other guards standing in her way. As she reached the last level above the ground Natasha had her stop on her way.

“..the signal...fading...secret door...bottom...no scans...”

She tried to go up a little but it got only better for split second.

“If your not out in thirty minutes Clint goes in. Good lu-” The signal was lost. Not scary at all.

She decided to use a more efficient way down. As the thrusters slowed her fall she already scanned for the door but the scans couldn't work properly. She landed in a dead end.

The walls were not plain grey steal like the floors above. She looked over the brick walls around her. What a cliché. Thinking for a moment she started with the wall underneath the stairs.

“Please work...” She put pressure on bricks that seemed to stand out. “Yes!!”

A part of the wall slid open and revealed big lab. She stepped in and as soon as she was out of the doorway it closed again. It seemed as if this part was cut off from the building. Power, access and literally everything. It was completely different from the rest.

On her holo screen she opened the sketches from the files that showed the lab. On the right side of the room were doors. Behind one of them was the main server and behind another one they have the prototype. She made her way to the first one.

It wasn't locked much to Emma's surprise. It was just a room full of cleaning stuff. She closed the door and went on to the next one. It was locked. Something important had to be behind it if it was locked. Hopefully server or gun.

She cracked it rather quickly and stuck her head in the room. Jackpot. The main server. She walked into the room full of tech until she found what she was searching for. The main servers core. Taking the stick out of her pocket she searched for the slot she had to put it in. Thankfully her AI already scanned for it and marked it with a red rectangle. She put the stick in the slot and went to leave the room.

Her dad had said it would activate itself so she didn't need to do anything but put it in.

She went on to the next door. It was locked too but she had no chance of cracking the lock. She stopped for a second. If the guards would be alarmed they would probably run into her on the stairs which she could fly up. No risk, no fun, right?

She stood in front of the door and activated one of her thrusters. The blast melted the lock so she only had to kick down the door itself which was surprisingly easy. Behind the door was an empty room. Well, empty except for the weapon on display.

It was a bit bigger than Emma had expected. She got back to the lab and searched the desks for a bag or something she could use to transport the photon blast gun easier. She found a backpack under one of the desks and emptied it onto the floor. Going back to the weapon she tried to put it into the bag as safe as possible. It still was a prototype and not finished.

After making sure she had not caused any alarm to go off she went back to the main lab. Halfway through the room a very loud siren filled the silence.

“Shit!”

She ran to the secret door but it was locked with a code she didn't know. Swinging the bag onto her back she tried to think of a plan. She had no contact to the Avengers and Clint would come in ten minutes. She was locked in the secret lab and a hoard of guards was probably on their way down here. Flight would not work so she had to fight.

She scanned the room for a hiding spot to have at least a little advantage. Just as she went back into little room on the right the door was opened. Over a dozen of guards filled the room but gladly the door didn't close.

As one of them stood in front of the door she was behind she kicked it open in his face. Immediately the other ones turned around to face her. The two closest to her walked towards her. Guns trained on Emma.

She started to run towards them but slid past them to confuse the two before throwing her first punch.

“Ow!”

The second on hit the floor. In a quick motion she got her taser and shocked the two guards on the floor. She kicked the gun out of the hand of the second guard before jumping onto him to shock him. Three down, nine to go.

As a few of the guards left standing started to shoot she ran to the door but one of them cut off her way. He tried to throw a punch at her but she ducked and pulled away his feet. As he hit the floor she made sure he was unconscious too.

Just as she stood again the next two ran in her direction. They were the two from the stairs and had no guns. But knives and very pointy ones.

She duck as one of them threw one of his knifes at her. As the two reached her one of them grabbed her taser and smashed it. There goes the easy way of knocking them out. One of them pushed her against the wall.

“Who are you?!”

As she didn't answer he slapped her. “You're not the only ones with knives.”

“Wh-” Before he could end he had a knife in his stomach. He curled up on himself as Emma pulled the knife out again. She used the moment to throw a punch at him which knocked him out.

The second one seemed mad now as he attacked her. The other six had their guns still trained on her but in the combat fight between her and the guard they could not aim properly. In the fight Emma was really thankful for the vibranium in the fabric which saved her from a few cuts.

As he tried to kick her she grabbed his leg and used the momentum to get him on the floor. She snatched the taser from his belt and shocked him. One of the other six shot at her but she jumped out of the way before the bullet hit her.

Now all six of them were shooting at her but missed.

“Do you even know how to aim?”

She ran over to the one closest to the door and kicked the gun out of his hands but he caught it mid air. He tried to punch her with it but Emma was faster and threw him onto his back pulling away his legs before shocking him.

The other ones were now running towards her. All five of them. The first one threw a punch at her but she ducked and kicked him from the floor before sliding through his legs just to place a kick just right to push him into the wall with enough force to knock him out.

“Four against one? Still not fair!”

She ducked punches and got out of the way of a few kicks trying to get the fight as close to the door as possible. One of the guards kicked her in her stomach right after she ducked a punch. For a short moment she laid on the floor curled up on herself.

The next second he regretted his decision. Emma had used that to pull out her knifes and had made a long cut across his legs before jumping up and kicking him in his face and shocking him. Gladly her knifes also were tasers. A bit more aggressive tasers but still tasers.

The other three guys were still trying to punch and kick her. At least they had put their guns aside. Two of the remaining guards were down soon too. But the last one seemed tougher.

Emma ran towards the stairs pushing a button on her way to close the door but the guard was faster than the door. She was already half way up the stairs as he grabbed her foot. She fell and tried to get back up quickly but the guard pushed her into the stairs. He tried to get her to drop the taser.

She threw it away but the guard didn't stop. He kept on punching her. As he seemed to be sure about winning Emma used the moment to kick him. He fell into the wall across the room. Emma threw the knife at him, he had tried to stab her shoulder with.

She used the time run up the stairs until she was out of sight. She activated her thrusters and flew to the highest floor. As she landed she froze in her movement for a split second as a message filled her screen.

'Alarms activated. Coming in in10'

It was send 7 minutes ago. Before she could open the vent on the wall next to her the guards from that floor came through the door. Guns trained on her.

From the stairs came five more. No escape.

“You really want this to get dirty...”

She sighed as the first ones came closer. One guard was out with the first shot she had dodged. They tried three more times to shoot her but the bullets never hit their target. Some threw their guns aside to grab other weapons before attacking. But they were not the only ones with an ace to play.

“You wanna fight? Ok. Let's do this.”

She pulled out her knives as the guards came closer simultaneously. One tried to punch her while another one began to kick. As Emma held the punch just to use the confusion of the guard to push him into his colleague the kick missed and threw another guard to the ground. She grabbed one of the guns and shot two of the guards in the legs before throwing them down the stairs. As two guards pushed her into the wall another one prepared to shock her but she kicked him with both feet before cutting the arms of the ones holding her.

For a short moment she stopped focusing on the fight as she heard noises coming from the vents. She made her first attack by punching the guard closest to her in his guts. He curled up on himself and made way for her to reach the other guards. It was difficult to dodge the kicks with the backpack on her back but most of the time she grabbed their legs to throw them onto the floor.

'Where are you?'

The screen in front of her lit up a bit more.

'Highest floor. Staircase.' She sent back to the van mid fight. Only a few guards were left standing but those were now trying to kill her instead of just stopping her. One of them ran in her direction with a knife in his hand but Emma didn't flinch. She grabbed his arm and kicked the knife out of his hand before using his force to let him crash into the wall.

As only one guard was left standing Hawkeye bursts through the vent opening on the wall. Emma stood there facing the stairs as the last guard fell to the floor.

“Seems like you don't need help...”

She picked up her knives before climbing into the vent. “What? Let's get out of here.” She made her way deeper into the vents hasitantly followed by the Avenger.

As they got to the rooftop the black van was still standing there. Ready to drive off.

“We need to get out of here something caused a silent alarm.” He shot an arrow at a tree creating a zip line down.

“Silent?” She activated her thrusters as Clint got ready to get down. Making sure the arrow didn't leave any marks she flew down too and landed next to the open door of the van.

“Get in! They probably sent out guards to search for intruders. Which would be us!”

Emma threw the bag into the back of the van before jumping in herself and shutting the door. The archer immediately drove off into the night.

“So...how'd you make those thrusters?”

Shit. “Ehm..can we focus on not ruining your mission?”

“She's right they have no recordings of Clint or her flying but they seem to kind of follow us...”

“I'm driving into the woods to shake them off.” He turned off the lights as he entered the forest. In the back Natasha, Tony and Emma saw a truck drive by but the relief of escaping didn't last long as Clint turned the lights back on just to show a tree right in front of them with no way to dodge the crash.


	8. Aftermath of a fight (we love lost sleep...not...)

“Everyone alright?” Clint climbed out of the front to open the door.

“Alright? You crashed the car.”

“It's not like I have night vision.”

Natasha and Tony got out of the car before turning on their flash lights.

“Little help?” All three Avengers turned around at once. Emma was stuck. She didn't had her seatbelt on and saw the tree a little too late. Her leg was stuck between a box that fell with the crash and the front seat. The box was also stuck because of the tree that had hit the side of the van as the Archer had tried to minimize the damage as best as he could. The three heroes came to help but it didn't work. Emma was still stuck under that box.

“Fri, analyse.” Tony had his glasses with him but of course the others didn't hear what the answer was. “The best thing we could do is blasting away the door or the box. We have no chance on moving it the way it's stuck.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” She looked at her dad. “I don't have a suit here and the only other thing we could use are Clint's arrows but I guess you like your leg.”

"You are not really thinking about blowing up my leg, right?” She looked at them. As no answer came she wasn't really surprised. “Really.”

“I'm gonna call a suit but that's gonna take a bit.”

“So with thrusters I can keep my leg?”

“Yeah, that's the saf-” Emma interrupted him as she activated one of her gloves and shot at the door. She pushed the box off of her before standing up again.

“Did you know she could do that?” Natasha leaned over to Tony. “No.”

Emma turned around to face the Avengers. “You could have said that earlier. So how are we going to get out of here?” She walked past the heroes and jumped onto the soft ground of the forest. It was probably around midnight. “I'm gonna call the others to come pick us up.” Natasha pulled out her phone to do as she said. You could hear an Iron Man Suit coming closer.

“So, I...gotta go...patrolling and stuff...” She turned around to go search for a better place to take off but was stopped by Tony. “Thanks. For your help. If you ever need our help you know how to call us.” He gestured to her wrist.

“Same for you.” She climbed up the nearest tree and flew into the night. Headed to New York she saw a certain Falcon flying in the opposite direction.

She landed on a roof near the former Stark Tower just to sit on the edge and watch the people passing by without noticing her. She had left the comms in the van with the three Avengers, so she had no clue how the debriefing was going at the van. It was very surprising for the heroes but Emma sat there on the roof trying to calm down from the mission. It was a great experience but a bit much for her first mission. During the fights she had to take in a few good punches and kicks which will probably leave a few bruises. She also had a cut on her cheek. How was she going to explain it to her parents?

She sat there for a while just breathing and enjoying the calm night as sirens ruined the calmness. She sighed but got up to follow the hoard of police cars. She helped to stop some robbers trying to escape the police after the alarm had gone off.

She flew back home and got back in through the still open window. Exhausted from the day she had she took off her costume before falling onto her bed.

The next morning she slept in. Probably because no one could wake her up.

Her first meal was lunch. Even though she slept very long she was still as tired as the night before. She ate some left overs from the day before sitting on the balcony as some of the heroes were training outside. Steve and Bucky were sitting on the grass as Natasha and Sam were sparring. As she finished eating she took her StarkPad that was lying around to order her notes for school. As she finished the Avengers down in the yard had changed their places. Natasha was sitting at the side speaking to Bucky in Russian while Steve and Sam were sparring on the grass. Before she went to leave the penthouse she changed into her work-out clothes.

She went to go train combat a bit but ended up doing a full yoga session in one of the training rooms. It was really relaxing but she had to hold in her laughter a few times as the four heroes outside were sparring but mostly mocking Sam as he hit the ground over and over again. As she sat in the middle of the room at the end the Avengers went to go back in.

Emma went to go back to her room to take a shower but was soon stopped as the Avengers crossed her way. As she walked towards the elevator the four heroes got into it first and as kind as Steve was he held the door open for her.

“Thanks.” She turned around to face the door so they would not try to talk to her. Gladly they also didn't notice her missing badge or the fact that the elevator didn't stop at the intern labs or any of the Stark Industries floor.

“Have a good day.”

“Thanks. You too.”

As the door closed behind the Avengers she let out a deep sigh. A few floors up she got out of the elevator before throwing her bag with her phone and a towel onto the couch. She went to her bathroom and took a quick shower. As she got out of the shower her hair wrapped in a towel she threw on a loose dress.

She was now fully awake as she looked in the mirror to examine the cut on her cheek. It wasn't deep but still caught your eye. Emma tried her best to clean it which burned like hell but being honest she had worse after some failed experiments that blew up. She eventually gave up on covering the cut and went back to her room. She let her hair air dry.

Looking around her room she could really wash her clothes. She collected the clothes laying around her room before sneaking her costume in and going to go wash them. While she waited for the first machine to finish she practised her lines for theater. She threw the clean clothes in the dryer as the washer was finished. Her parents were in meetings today. Her mom was doing stuff for SI while her dad was at the debriefing with Fury. She went back to her room as her clothes were cleaned and dried to fold them and put them back into her closet. Her costume went back into its hiding spot. For the rest of the evening she was lying in the sun on the balcony watching a movie over her tablet.

As the end credits rolled down she went to make something for dinner. As she looked trough the cabinets she decided on soup.

After it was ready she went back outside to eat. It had cooled down a bit but it was still pretty warm outside. She sat down at the table before grabbing her StarkPad once more. She put on a playlist before looking over the lake. It was pretty calm today but the place was still full of life. Some employees were settling down in the garden to take a quick break befor making the last bit of work before going home.

Some of the ones taking night shifts were relaxing in the grass before their work began. She often settled down here watching the life down in the garden or just let her eyes rest on the lake in the past few days. It was calming seeing the lives that took impact on many others.

She was soon finished with her food and went back to her room. She packed her bag for the next day while music filled the apartment. Still nervous about the cut on her face she decided on going to sleep earlier. The bruises would still hurt but they were all covered by her clothes. She charged her tablet and phone before jumping onto her bed. As her head hit the pillow she fell asleep.

As her alarm woke her up the next morning she had at first no clue where she was. She rolled over but landed on the floor. As she got up and walked over to the bathroom she grabbed something to wear and nearly tripped over her bag. She lazily put her hair up into a ponytail before trying to cover the cut on her face. You could still see it but it didn't draw too much attention after she gave up.

She went to eat breakfast before going down to meet up with Happy. On the drive to her school she checked the news and social media but nothing big happened so she put her phone back into her bag. As they reached the school it was too crowded for Happy to stop there so he parked a few streets down and Emma walked the last bit.

As she entered the building she got her books before going to sit down in her homeroom. Since it was her first year ever on a public school she had no friends from middle school and was not really included in the groups that had already formed over the first few days. A lot of kids made fun of her because she was homeschooled before but little did they know why.

But she was fine with it at least she could go to school and honestly she didn't really care. One thing she had learned from her dad.

The room was soon filled and the class began.

At lunch she met up with Ned, Peter and MJ at their usual table. “What happened to your face?”

“Lab accident...” She sat down at the table with her tray of food. “How's it going with the 'Ninja'?”

“Man...she helped with that mission but Fury still doesn't trust her...”

“I think she's cool.” MJ looked up from her book as their conversation drifted off to the new hero once again. “What? She does what she wants and doesn't give a shit. She's cool.”

Peter and Ned just looked at her while she continued to read her book.

“I gotta go, see you.” Emma stood up to get the books she needed for the next class before making her way to class.

As the last bell rang Emma gathered her things and nearly ran out of the school. After a quick stop at her locker she went to the black car outside the school. She got in the back and Happy drove off.

“How was school?”

“Okay. Nothing big happened. “ She started to do her homework as always. They soon reached the compound and Emma ran up to her room. She grabbed her tablet, a blanket, her headphones and her intern badge before going down again.

She looked for free spot near the water and laid down the blanket before sitting down. She leaned against a tree while looking over the lake. Not a lot of people were there now so she pulled out her StarkPad and worked on the coding of her suit. She connected it to the Smart Watch the Avengers gave her.

Soon more employees came to sit in the garden so Emma changed the project she was working on. She pulled up the dashboard. On the dashboard employees and interns can upload what they're working on and with what they need help so others can help them whenever they have time to spare. Emma helped often just like right now.

She gathered her blanket and brought it back to her room before going down to the lab to help some interns with the coding of their new app. The two interns had only forgotten a command so it was a quick fix. She helped some others before she took the elevator up to the penthouse.

“I ordered pizza. You coming?”

Emma put her tablet on the table next to her while walking over to the kitchen to grab her pizza. She followed her dad out onto the balcony. They both sat down to eat. “How was school?”

“Fine. Nothing big happened...how was that mission on Saturday?”

“Good, but Fury didn't get it. He says we should not trust her. As sceptical as always...”

“Okay...he really needs to calm down...”

“That's what I told him but now it is Shield's mission to catch her...”

Well, shit. “Isn't that a bit...much...?”

“Yep. But you know him. Always doing the things in a big movement. So nothing fails.”

They talked for a while but Emma eventually went to her room. Even though she had school tomorrow she stayed up pretty long working on her suit and repairing some of the damages from the fight and the crash. She also was relieved that her dad hadn't asked about the cut on her cheek. After she was finished she went to go to sleep.

She had some weird dreams but her alarm pulled her out of it. She got up, got ready and packed her bag before she went to have some breakfast.

“You're up early.”

Her dad was sitting at the counter with a mug of coffee. “Got some meetings.”

Emma took out a bowl and filled it with cereal and milk. As she sat down at the table Pepper came in. “Morning, sweetie!” She walked over to kiss Tony before making a coffee for herself before heading off to her first meeting of the day. T

ony and Emma talked a bit while they were eating breakfast until FRIDAY reminded Emma to go down to the garage.

“Oh, dad, can you put up the canvas in my room?”

“Sure. Have a good day at school.”

Emma rushed to the car and Happy drove off immediately. Surprisingly they were still on time as Emma jumped out of the car in front of the school. It was just another day at school until last period. Emma was just about to leave to get to rehearsal but her phone buzzed like mad in her bag. She quickly made her way to rehearsal but the decathlon team was still having their practice so she had to wait a bit. She sat down her bag and picked up her phone that was still buzzing.

“Hey dad. What's up?”

The other side of the line was quiet for a moment. “What's up?! I'll tell you what's up. You're not good at hiding.”

“What?” Emma was mildly confused.

“Dark clothes. They kinda remind me of a certain vigilante.”

Shit! Play dumb! “What vigilante?” Not that dumb.

“Wh-”

“Sorry! I have rehearsal! Bye!” She hung up and slid down the wall behind her. This was bad.

As the decathlon team passed by her she got up and sat down together with the rest of the cast. They practised a couple songs before the director asked all understudies to learn their songs until next rehearsal. Everyone was still amazed by the thought that they were doing 'Hamilton' so it was no surprise that everyone practised their lines already at home which made it way easier to put everything together.

As Emma stepped outside of the building the black Audi parked right in front of the school.

“Hey, Haps.”

As she got in she was more then glad that it was Happy picking her up. After that call she thought her dad would come flying in his suit. She did her homework as usual while they were headed to the Avengers compound. It felt longer than normally. As you could see the compound Emma finished her homework and put her tablet back into her bag.

As they reached the building she felt the anxiety creep up inside her. She walked through the lobby straight to the elevators. She went up to the penthouse that seemed to be empty. Slowly she crossed the room before opening the door to her room.

The canvas her dad had wanted to put up hung on the wall but something was off. Emma couldn't say what but she was sure about it. She set down her backpack beside her desk.

“How was rehearsal?” S

cared she turned around while her heart skipped a beat. “Good...”

Tony stood in the doorway looking at her. “So you wanna know what I found? I think it's very interesting.” He walked into the room and closed the door before he went straight to the hiding spot of her suit. “This looks kind of familiar to me. What do you think about it?” He threw the top in her direction before he grabbed one of the boots.

“It's a hoodie. A cropped hoodie...”

He had this look on his face saying 'really, don't dumb-shit me'. “Really? Don't play dumb. You know what this is.” He looked at her for a moment. “Ok. I'm not mad. I just want to know why. Why you didn't tell me? I mean obviously you didn't need help with the suit but I could have convinced Fury to not put you on Shield's wanted list...”

“You're not mad?”

“No. Of course not.”

“I didn't tell you 'cause I thought you would stop me. You made me learn to fight just so you let me go to school...”

Tony chuckled a little before he looked back up at Emma. “That's a good point... now we still have to get you off of Fury's list.”


	9. emergency (what? it's not totally wrong...)

Wednesday morning she was almost late to school, almost. She walked in just as the bell rang. She quickly sat down at her usual place in the back. As she pulled out her notebook a paper plane landed on her bag with her name written on one of the wings. She picked it up and opened it up under her desk.

She had obviously missed something. To keep her cover up everyone thinks her parents are always on business trips and that she mostly lives with other relatives. The teacher had announced career day. Everyone's parents would come to school and present their job or company. Emma had no clue about who had thrown the plane but they had drawn a little apologetic face under the note. She folded it again and put it in the back of her notebook.

After her first classes she walked into the cafeteria to join the three sophomores sitting at their usual table. “What's up guys?” She sat down across the table while Ned and Peter turned to her.

“Man! Didn't you hear it? The police wants to catch 'Ninja'!”

She looked at him frozen in her movement. That was not helping her. “What the hell!” She broke out of her freeze.

“Exactly! She did nothing wrong! Why would they put her on top of the Wanted list?”

For anyone else it would have been totally out of the blue but Emma knew that the police was not the only one trying to catch her. Probably Shield's fault she was now proclaimed a criminal. But gladly she wasn't the only one that thought it was a waste of time to chase after someone just trying to help. At least her father and Peter had her back, even though Peter had no clue it was her under that mask. But he didn't really need to know he seemed to trust her even in costume.

Also she wasn't keen on telling anyone at all. Her dad had only found it out on accident and she was sure to be even more careful.

They had a really big discussion about it and even MJ joined it but Emma had to leave soon to get her books out of her locker and get to her room on time. The rest of the afternoon wasn't very exciting. One of her teachers made a pop quiz.

In the middle of her last period her phone buzzed aggressively in her bag. Gladly her teacher didn't notice it but it still didn't stop making little noises.

“Yes, Emma?”

“Could I go to the bathroom, please?”

As she got permission she quickly snuck her phone out of the classroom. Locking the stall she was in she picked up her still ringing phone.

“Dad! I'm in the middle of class!”

“Obviously not in class but any way. You need to get home ASAP. The teams not listening and told Fury the age of our little hero. He wants to check all systems for same body posture and similar skills. Your school's data base is the only one you're in.”

She was a bit confused from the wave of information. “What?!”

“You have to sign out and get here immediately. We can't risk Fury finding you. Cap said he would search at the 'smart schools' first so Midtown Tech is high on his list.”

While her dad was still giving more information through the phone she was already on her way to go get herself signed out for today.

“Hold on for a sec.”

She entered the office holding her phone behind her back.

“What can I do for you sweetie?” The front desk lady was as sweet and caring as ever.

“I need to be signed out, please.”

She started hitting the keyboard before she asked for her name. “And why do you want to be signed out?”

She couldn't just say that she was wanted by Shield because of her secret identity. “A..family emergency...”

She started typing again. “And..you're signed out. Have a nice day sweetie.”

“You too. Thanks.” She walked back out of the office and put her phone back to her ear.

“You ready?”

“In 10.”

“Happy's already on his way. See you.”

“Yep. See you.” She was halfway to her classroom as she hung up her phone and began to nearly run. If Cap said Fury had a plan, that plan was most certainly already started. As she reached the room she knocked on the door and came in.

“What took you so long, Emma?”

She didn't bother stopping or excusing herself as she went straight to her place and packed her bag.

“I'm sorry but what do you think you're doing?”

“Leaving. Family emergency.”

The teacher was already starting to pull out her phone to point out that she needed to be signed out before she could leave.

“I'm already signed out.” She walked by her and stepped into the hallway. After the door closed behind her she started picking up speed. Just as she came out of the building the black Audi was coming to a halt in front of the school. She jumped in the back, quickly greeting Happy. “You gonna tell me what's going on?”

“Like my dad?”

“So not.”

While Happy was driving them out of the city Emma was looking out for any QuinJets or other signs of Shield. It was no surprise she couldn't see anything. It was Shield after all.

As the car stopped in front of the compound Emma jumped out. Before she reached the lobby she could see a Quinjet taking off to New York. She made her way to the elevator and got in. As the doors opened and Emma stepped into the penthouse Tony was arguing with someone over his phone.

“You sure you wanna arrest a minor?...” He hung up the phone before falling onto the couch.

“Hey dad. So let me guess...Fury called the Avengers to catch me...”

Tony sighed but got up. “Yes. I said my suit wasn't ready.”

She let her bag fall onto the ground before she sat down on the couch. Tony sat down again too.

“So what is the mission?”

“He said we should find and catch you. He still thinks you're evil and he worries about the safety of that big concert or whatever tonight.”

“So the command was to catch. Better than kill. What are we gonna do about it?”

He stood up again, worry written on his face. “Not we. You'll stay here while I try to figure out how to trick them.”

Honestly, she wasn't surprised but still a bit mad. “And what am I gonna do? Sit here and hide? You know I can't do that. Fury may be wrong about my intentions but he's right about the festival. It's been some time since the last attack in New York. It would be the perfect opportunity.”

By now Tony was walking up and down. “You gonna stay here. No meeting friends. No school tomorrow. You're lucky your mum left for a business trip and won't be here 'till Sunday.”

She looked him dead in the eye. “Fine.” She stood up and went to grab her bag. “But if there's an attack, I'm gonna protect the city.”

She made her way to her room after her dad agreed. He would try and find a way to trick Fury and his teammates.

In her room Emma set down her bag and grabbed her StarkPad. She pulled up her suits design and started working on her systems a bit more. She was finished with her next update and included it in her costume. She was about get ready for sports as her phone buzzed and nearly fell off her desk.

Still braiding her hair she grabbed it and looked on her screen. As she read the headline she threw her phone on her bed and got her suit. She suited up already on her way to the living room. Stumbling while putting on her boots she walked over to the balcony. Gladly her dad was down in his lab working on his suit. She laced up her boots as FRIDAY opened the glass doors. She pulled up her mask and her hood just before she reached the end.

As the thrusters formed around her hands the Avengers alarm went off. On her way to new York she already saw part of the fight. Falcon was flying high trying to get a better view over the whole situation. He was concentrated on coordinating the fight on the ground.

Emma got down a few streets down. On her way to the fight she rescued a few civilians. As she reached the fight she could already hear Cap giving commands to his teammates. She was still hoovering a bit above the ground as someone was trying to sneak up behind Hawkeye. He was so busy shooting his arrows at his opponents that he didn't notice them. Emma fired at them with her thrusters causing them to slam into the next wall.

Clint didn't notice her as she flew a little higher to see where she could help. While she searched for Falcon her dad was flying by.

He got down next to Cap who was still fighting some Agents. Between the screams and sounds of weapons she could her some of the bad guys shouting 'Hail Hydra'. Great. Hydra in New York.

She landed on a roof top trying to get a better view of the fight. They were outnumbered. Cap, Hawkeye, Falcon, Bucky and her dad were the only Avengers there. Thor was off planet and the Hulk was missing. Vision and Wanda had wanted a little time to themselves. Rhodey was still a colonel and Peter was asleep in Queens.

Besides of being outnumbered everyone thought Hydra had been fallen completely but here they were fighting against left over Hydra agents.

Emma flew down and drop kicked one agent aiming at Steve while landing in the middle of the battle. The agents hadn't noticed her before so she caught a group of them off guard as she threw one of her gadgets in their middle. As innocent as the little metal ball looked it shocked them and brought them to the ground.

“Can you hack in their comms?” Her AI was already at work while she switched to combat. It seemed like Hydra also had comms since they somehow had switched their armour to be resistant against electrical shocks. As Emma found herself trapped by some Hydra agents she pulled out her knives since shocking didn't work any more.

“Falcon?! You got the civilians out of here?!”

“Yes! Police won't interfere.. I'm coming in now..”

Her AI had gotten in the Avengers' comms. Under her mask she grinned just before she started to fight her way out of the circle of agents.

Sure her blades wouldn't go through their armour Hydra tried to beat her in hand to hand combat but little did they know that her whole gear included vibranium. As the first one tried to take her knives his glove did nothing for protection so he let it fall to the ground immediately. Soon the agents tying to beat her were laying on the ground.

“I could need a little help here!!”

A few Hydra agents were running in her direction but Emma flew over to her dad trapped by some Hydra agents and some big robot things. Those were new. Still in the air she fired her thrusters at the robots. They started firing at her but her AI had already found a weak spot between their legs. She flew down and pushed the agents away while she fired at the weak spot of the robots while she was flying trough their legs.

Fully concentrated on taking down the agents and robots she hadn't notice that Captain America and the Falcon also came to help. They had stopped when they saw Emma flying down to take out the robots.

She was now onto the weird handcuff that seemed to be magnetic since it stuck to a street lantern. It also seemed to disable Tony's suit. She took a quick scan before she pulled out one of her knives to disable the electromagnet in them.

“What is she doing?”

“Doesn't matter. Hydra first. Then we can catch her.”

As Emma was freeing her dad and his suit rebooted she created a private comm channel for the two of them.

“Told you I would help.”

“Yeah, but they're planning on catching you after this.”

“I know. But first we have to show these Hydra agents that they already lost.”

She took off again to scan the area once more from above. As she saw a woman and her kid trapped by Hydra she flew down once more. “You should really watch the news.” Scared they turned around but some of them had their guns still trained on the civilians. The one closest to Emma made the first move as he threw a punch at her but she dodged it and grabbed his arm. She pulled away the ground under his feet and left him laying on the ground. Now his mates attacked together.

“Ehm guys. I'm out of arrows! Anyone need help?”

“Cap and I could use some help but that Ninja seems to seriously need help!”

While Emma was fighting the group of agents the Clint was now switching to combat since he had no arrows left in his quiver.

“Unmute. I can handle this Hawkeye! Go help Falcon and Cap!”

She hadn't made a sound before so they hadn't known she was in their comms.

“Copy that. Wait what?!”

She muted herself again and continued fighting. She had already disarmed most of her opponents as two of them grabbed her from behind. They had grabbed her arms in order to keep her from throwing punches at them. Two others were approaching her from the front. Emma used the support of the two agents holding her and swung up both her legs before starting her thrusters. The three of them hit the ground hard enough to knock the agents out while Emma fired her repulsors at the two other agents causing them to slam into the wall right next to the two civilians.

Emma looked around and decided to get the two out of here as she saw the agents laying all around either knocked out or hurt and not able to fight properly any more. She walked over to them.

“Hey. I'm gonna get you out of here, ok? Just hold on tight.” The woman took her kid and came closer. She literally held on tight. Emma held onto her too as she took off. She put them down a bit behind the police barriers. A few police men had spotted her and ran in her direction. Right. She was still wanted by Shield and therefore by every other organisation.

She quickly took off again and helped the Avengers on the other end of the street. While she had fought the group of agents she had not listened to the comms.

“Anyone gonna look after the kid?”

“Kid? We didn't alarm Spidey?”

“The Ninja girl, Tony.”

“I'm on my way!” Just as Sam got into the air he spotted her.

“She won't need help. I saw her fight. She can handle this!”

“Still she helps us, we help her.”

Cap and Hawkeye were fighting over the comms while Falcon was hoovering in the air. “I think Clint's right, Steve.”

Emma landed in the middle of the last bits of the fight against Hydra with a lot of speed. A bit of the rubble laying around flew up in the air and Emma used it to her advantage. She kicked a bigger piece in the direction of a few agents and knocked them out.

“Told ya.”

Hawkeye had collected some of his arrows from the battle field and was back at fighting from a distance. Some of the left over Hydra agents turned away from the hero they were fighting and attacked Emma. Two of them still had their guns and tried to shoot her but the vibranium in the fabric of her clothes kept the bullets from tearing through her skin. As they realized the guns wouldn't help them they threw them aside and pulled out knives while running towards Emma.

She had already brought the rest to the ground as the two reached her and attacked. She had no problem fighting off their attempts at punching her but as she hold a punch from the taller one the other one took advantage of her cropped top and attacked her with his knife. Emma could barely dodge but he missed her closely. She still had a cut on the side but she didn't notice it. Her body was full of adrenaline from the fight.

She ducked and pulled away the legs of the taller one with a kick before she searched for the last one. He was running away thinking he had beat her. She picked up his knife that had fallen to the ground since he only cut her side.

Concentrated she stood there. Her arm raised in the air pointing in his direction. Emma aimed and then threw the knife in his direction. As the knife drilled in his shoulder he stumbled over the rubble in his way before he fell to the ground. His armour had taken most of the damage but the blade still had cut trough it.

Emma had been so concentrated on her fight that she didn't notice he had been the last one standing. The Avengers assembled behind her. As Emma turned around she couldn't see her dad at first but she found him standing with the police at the barrier down the street.

He took off to the compound. His systems had been damaged by those handcuffs earlier and he needed to fix it so he went back to his lab.

Steve stood in front of Emma still looking serious. “We really appreciate your help but I guess you already know that Shield would like to meet you.”

Even though his shield was on his back Emma took a step back. “I really am flattered but no.” She already activated her hand thrusters behind her back.

“Look. We can do this the easy way- “

“-or the hard way? Yeah. I heard your mission was to arrest me. But I didn't commit any crimes, sooo...”

“We don't wanna do this too kid.” Bucky was standing in the back and was the first one to turn around as a Quinjet landed behind them.

“What? I don't want to walk all the way to the compound.”

“Clint...why don't you go ahead with Buck.” Bucky was already on the ramp as Clint followed him.

“I'm gonna make sure they don't break anything, Cap.”

Emma stood there watching as the Avengers got into the jet. Steve looked at her silently asking her to chose the easy way but easy was never Emma's choice.

“Have good ride!” She took off into the night sky.

Cap tried to hit her with his shield but Emma was faster and dodged.

As he caught his shield mid air he turned around and ran up the ramp to the Quinjet. “Guys! Start the jet! We have a ninja to catch.”


	10. chases and traces (would be fun if you weren't the prize to win...)

“Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.” Emma had always been good at messing things up but this was definitely her new record. She was out of reach to call her dad over comms and he didn't pick up his phone.

Since the Avengers were after her she also couldn't just fly home and change. She should have thought this trough. Gladly the spotlights of the helicopters were blending them so they couldn't see where she was right now but the Quinjet took off. Why did she do things like this?

The radar of the jet would probably pick up her suits signals. She wanted to prevent that in her next update, because she hadn't had the time for it today. At least she had no school tomorrow.

The jet was now above the helicopters just like Emma. Shit. She tried to hide behind the helicopters put it seems like she had been right about the radar. But she also still was connected to their comms.

“I'm out of arrows and my back-up quiver is not here.”

“Got her on the radar.”

“Ok. Follow her. But not too obvious.” Follow her? Emma thought for a moment while Bucky activated the camouflage.

After a few seconds she flew away from the city gaining speed on her way. She could already see the forest Clint had crashed the van in. Continuing to fly straight she scanned for the best place to land. As she had found one she stopped hoovering in the air and looking around. The Avengers still thought she didn't knew where they were.

She looked around once more before she flew straight down. She didn't look for a place to hide. The heroes had to land if they wanted to catch her and they did. On a field next to the forest the jet got down. All of them got out and they went in teams into the forest. On the radar it had looked like Emma had crashed into the ground laying completely still on the ground.

After the ramp of the Quinjet closed Emma got up. Now they don't have the radar to help them find her and she was able to listen to their conversations over the comms. But it still were Avengers she had to be careful.

She was walking towards the place where the van had collided with the trees but it was difficult to walk around a forest without making any noises.

“She isn't where she landed. I'm gonna walk towards the crashed van.”

Great the one with probably the best look for details was right behind her.

“Buck. Got anything?”

“No.”

It seems like they were all walking towards the van except for Sam. He was not even in the forest. “

Sam you got her?”

“Yeah. We comin' in.” His dot reappeared on her map but he was not alone.

“Really guys? I pass for one mission and you lose her in the woods?” Black Widow. This is getting better and better...

Emma had finally reached the van but her happiness didn't last long as she saw light reflected by Bucky's metal arm. Throwing every caution overboard she ran to the edge of the forest and took off again.

“She flew up! Birdie!”

“Ha ha very funny. But I'm on it.” Out of the middle of the forest the Falcon flew up into the sky scanning for another flying hero.

“Hey! Ninja Girl!” He flew over to her cutting of her way with his wings. “You ain't going anywhere!”

Emma stayed there hoovering in the air looking Sam dead in the eye. A moment later the Quinjet was hoovering behind her. “Do I have to repeat myself?”

She pulled out one of her little gadgets and threw it into the air. “No.” She flew higher as she shoot her repulsor at the little ball. It exploded into a very, very bright light blinding the heroes in and out of the jet as she flew back in direction of New York.

“Really? A light bomb?!” The Falcon was back next to her and the Quinjet was under her.

“Why do you guys can't take a 'no'?!” She suddenly flew up and stopped. As the jet had turned around again and Sam was flying in front of her Emma dropped down and flew full speed. As she reached the first rooftop the Falcon was still behind but not as far as the jet.

Emma was already jumping from one roof to another boosting herself up sometimes with her boots. But she soon was followed by more than one hero. Unfortunately Falcon was now her tiniest problem. She had two super soldiers and two master spies behind her and no clue where she was going.

She stopped thinking every step through and listened to her instinct as she let herself drop down an alleyway. As she landed on the ground she ran out of the alley immediately. On the street she looked around before running down the road.

The Black Widow right behind her, Emma tried to fade into the crowd to get a bit ahead but it didn't work. The two spies didn't lose her in the crowd and the super soldiers were close behind her. She tried to take turns as often as possible but Sam was watching from above and had a better view over the place than Emma. Still running down the street Emma was outrun by Steve and Bucky.

As the two stood in front of her cutting of her way and forcing her to stop a certain vigilante arrived. No one of them had noticed that they were in Queens before Spider-Man had showed up.

“Sorry for being late! You ran through the whole city!”

He landed next to Captain America facing him not noticing Emma.

“Hey, Queens.”

Emma slowly took a few steps back while Cap and Bucky were distracted by Peter.

“Not so fast!” Falcon landed in front of her cutting off her way with his wings.

Looking up Emma's gaze met the Quinjet. Hawkeye had gone back since he had no arrows to follow her through the air. After a moment Natasha joined them and closed the circle around Emma. Listening to her instinct she started to hoover just over the ground and as the first one took a step forward she flew over their heads. They always say to listen to your instinct whenever you're in a tough situation, but what if your instinct's bad??

About two seconds later the Falcon was flying in front of her and in order to dodge Cap's shield and the Widow Bites shot at her Emma had to take a sharp turn. Still dodging the things shot at her she didn't notice that she was flying straight to the jet still hoovering over the city. With Sam still behind her she had no way to turn. She stopped mid air as a web was shot at the jet and the next moment Spider-Man stood in front of her.

“I don't know what's going on, but it seems like you're playing catch with the Avengers...”

“Not because I want to.” She turned around only to see Falcon still flying behind her. Just as she wanted to drop down to escape an arrow was shot onto the roof behind them and Natasha and Steve climbed up the rope between the arrow and the jet. Emma went all in and tried to fly away once again but something hit her and deactivated her thrusters. She fell from the night sky onto the streets of New York.

Or at least she thought she would. Just before she hit the edge of a roof someone grabbed her arms and pulled her back up.

“Are you trying to kill me?!” She landed on the ramp of the Quinjet before Sam landed right behind her.

“I didn't have to save you.”

“I like the update Stark made on my Bites.” Defeated by your own weapons. How ironic.

The ramp closed as Emma stood there surrounded by the team of heroes.

“That were EMP Bites so don't even try to use your tech on us.” The Russian spy still stood in front of Emma as the others went to join Clint in the cockpit.

She looked out of the window while the Black Widow sat down.

“We're not flying to Shield, are we?”

“No. We bring you to our base.”

Great. This just keeps getting better and better. If they would bring her to the compound they would probably call the team and then ask her question over question. The flight wouldn't take long but Emma felt a little lost standing there in the middle of the jet all alone so she sat down. Soon Emma could see the compound through the window and as they came closer to the building she could see a little group standing on the roof. They landed right next to them.

Before they opened the ramp once more the little group of heroes on the jet assembled around her. As the ramp slowly opened Emma was glad to see that the people on the roof were just employees and not more Avengers. The group made sure the jet was secure while the heroes left the roof. Emma stood in the middle of the Avengers and they made sure that she couldn't escape.

Honestly, it felt like she was a super villain. As the elevator doors opened Emma was lead into the Avengers common area. She had never been here before. Not even in the tower. The group reached the couches where Rhodey was waiting.

“It took you That long to catch a kid?”

As the group went to greet the colonel Emma stood there in the middle of the room.

“Now you have some guts running from the Avengers...”

“I wanna see you when the worlds heroes are trying to catch you?”

He raised an eyebrow and turned to his teammates. “What did she do again?”

“Nothing!” Before someone could answer Emma spoke up. “I have done nothing wrong! I even helped you with your last mission!”

The five turned to face her. “We know. But that is the only thing we know. If you would have answered our questions or Fury's questions there would have been no need for this.” Still standing alone in the middle of the room Emma just prayed her father would not come down here.

“Why would I? What you want to hear are highly classified information. And-” They had talked for nearly half an hour now and reached the questions Emma hadn't answered before.

“Classified?! The only thing too sensitive for Shield to know is literally nothing!”

“I'm not talking 'bout Shield!” They were now screaming at each other and god, did she hope this would be over soon.

“We trusted you for what?! You don't even seem to trust us!” Everyone was now shouting.

“It's not about trust!”

“Then what is this about? You don't even want to tell us your name. The only thing we have is your age and that doesn't really help.”

“So what!? I don't have to tell you anything! Besides I'm not really allowed to!”

“Then at least put down that stupid mask!” Some of the heroes were taking a few steps forward while they tried to understand where her problem was with telling them who she was. While Emma had a good view over the room the Avengers were facing her and the windows as Tony walked trough the doors of the elevator.

“Hey guys. Got anything new?” He hadn't noticed Emma behind his teammates.

“Yeah. Actually we found our little hero. But she still won't answer our questions...” Clint had turned around to greet Tony and fill him in on the situation.

“Listen. I said it once and I'll say it again. No.”

Tony's arrival had not stopped any of the arguments since Emma hadn't noticed him. “We're just asking you to either tell us your name or do anything else but we have to know who you are.”

“And what about Spider-Man?! He didn't need to put down his mask!”

“H-how do you know that?”

“I'm gonna leave right there and snatch said Spider for a sec...” Tony already had a plan but Emma didn't see how this would help her.

“He proved himself. And he did not pop up with tech similar to ours!”

She sighed and looked to the ground to calm herself down a bit. In the corner of her eye Emma saw someone sneaking up behind her. That someone turned out to be one Russian spy, Natasha Romanoff. She pulled down Emma's hood from behind expecting it to be connected to her mask in some way.

“And you ask why I don't trust you?! Even though I do trust you. I just don't want to make this even messier!” She had turned just so she could look at everyone at once.

“How could this be messier?!” A few of the team members had dropped down onto the couch exhausted by the on-going argument. Everyone was still trying to convince her to put down her mask.

After a while Emma gave up blocking them and just listened.

“What is going on, guys?!” Tony walked back into the room a surprisingly silent Spidey following him.

“She refuses to answer any questions. That is what's going on, Tony.”

“Why would she have to? She said the answers were classified. You don't go around telling strangers Shield's secrets, right? Why would she?”

“That is completely different, Stark.”

While Tony pulled the attention of his teammates to himself Peter walked over to Emma. As Emma tried to figure out Tony's plan she hadn't noticed him. She flinched a little at his pat on her shoulder. She took a quick glance at him but continued to observe the Avengers.

While the Avengers were talking to each other and all members got up from the couch Emma's suit suddenly rebooted. At least her systems not her thrusters. She had put up her hood again while the heroes were still discussing the whole situation. Before she could do anything else a message lit up on her screen.

'Do not put down your mask. Ask Fri to help you sneak out.'

She did as she was told. “Activating 'sticky situation'-protocol.” While her whole suit was rebooting the doors to the Avengers' balcony slowly opened. With her whole concentration focussed on the systems she was able to erase her traces in the systems and hide them from their radars before she snuck out onto the balcony.

She made it to the edge but the heroes had noticed her escape. They ran out onto the balcony. “Where do you think you're going?!” The Captain was right behind her.

“Hopefully home.”

As Steve wanted to grab her shoulder she jumped off the edge.

“Are you insane?!” The two spies ran to look over the edge but they didn't find anything. “She's gone.”

“I told you we can trust her. She shouldn't have to answer those stupid questions.” Tony walked back in headed to the elevator while his teammates were trying to understand where Emma had gone to.

Flying around the building she searched for her open window. Gladly it was still open. Emma got in and changed. For the first time this night she calmed down which was not that good in hindsight. The adrenaline from the fight and the chase slowly faded and all at once she felt the pain from the bruises and cuts from the fight against Hydra.

She went to take a shower and clean her wounds. It burned but it was better than being trapped by the Avengers. While she put her suit back into its hiding spot and fell onto her bed exhausted from the night a few floors down the argument between the Avengers came to an end for now.

Shit. She was late for school. As she got up a painful reminder brought back the memories of last night.

Right, she didn't need to go to school because no one trusts her. Well, her as a vigilante.

Thinking back the team of heroes had changed their opinion of her rather quickly. She slowly got up trying to minimize the pain. After she had gotten ready she had also gotten used to the pain.

“Good morning, Ems. Feeling better?” Her dad sat at the kitchen counter making some sandwiches for lunch.

“Yes. Thanks for the rescue last night.” She sat down at the table after snatching one of Tony's sandwiches. “Have they calmed down?” She took a big bite from her food.

“Yes. And Fury too.”

“Fury too?! How?!”

“I talked to him. Reminded him how Spider-boy got to us and he agreed leave you for now...”

“You're saying you talked some common sense into Nick Fury?”

“Yeah...”

“He is Nick Fury! He always has a back-up plan.”

“Shit...” Tony sighed. He had been too tired to function and the outcome was this. No clue what Fury's new plan was and no chance to block it.

Emma worked in her lab. Since her father didn't let her go to school she had no choice but working in her lab to be at least a bit productive today. She again worked on her suit. Repairing any damages from the fight and upgrade a few of her little gadgets.

After she was finished she went on to sketch a bit but she was soon pretty bored so she chatted a bit with Peter, Ned and MJ in their group chat. One of them had a free period right now so they wanted to video chat but just as her phone rang Tony bursts through the door to her lab.

“What's up?”

She looked up from her phone and was greeted with her suit flying in her direction. She caught it confused to why her father brought her suit down to her lab.

“We gotta find a excuse to why you're here.”

Leaving her suit on her couch she got up. “W-what? Dad you have to tell me what's going on if you want me to do anything...”

He looked at her a bit stressed. “They located your suit. The Widow Bite is still in one of your thrusters. Nearly the whole team is headed for the lab.”

Her eyes wandered between her dad and her costume. She grabbed her suit as her dad left.

As she walked over to the big lab she pulled up her mask and left her hood down. “So any excuses that make sense?” The father-daughter-duo stood in the middle of the lab waiting for the group of heroes to come and thinking of a plan to cover their secret.


	11. calming down(at least for a moment...)

They were walking out of the elevator as a little explosion could be heard. “Wait here.” He went a bit ahead and opened the door. As he stepped in he relaxed a little. “You could have told us about our little guest.”

Tony turned to face him. He had worked on one of the thrusters of the 'Ninja's' suit. “So you know how to extract a Widow Bite from a thruster?”

“No. But that's not what I mean.”

Her hand still resting mid air Emma waved to the rest of the team standing on the other side of the glass. Like all windows it could blur so you couldn't see what was going on behind it. Some of the heroes waved back a bit confused while the others were thinking about joining the four in the lab. Before the two adults could start another fight Emma decided to improvise a bit.

“I'm sorry about yesterday. I would have really liked to stay and answer your questions, Captain. But I had to take a few good punches and lost a lot of sleep last night.” It seemed to have worked.

He took a quick glance at the team. With a simple sign he told them that everything was fine. “It's fine. We could have been a bit more polite, I admit...”

While the two were talking Tony went back to Emma's hand.

“I'm sorry but you never mentioned a name we could call you...”

“Yeah...I still can't think of a good hero-name and the media is even worse than some names I heard in public soo...”

The three had been concentrated on the conversation and hadn't noticed Hawkeye jumping out of the vent. “Something bad-ass, definitely.”

All three turned to look at him at once.

“What? We all saw her fight, didn't we?” He bit into the sandwich he was holding.

“What are you doing Clint?”

Tony was still working on the thruster while Steve was still a bit out of focus because of Clint's sudden appearance. Instead of answering the archer walked out of the lab.

“Is-..is that normal?” Steve turned back to Emma and nodded. “Unfortunately. But back to the important stuff... you have to give us at least a little piece of information if you want to be able to go to school like usually. Fury is still not sure about you and being honest me neither...”

For a short moment Emma stayed silent. “Ow.” She pulled her hand back as she was shocked from her thruster. Giving her dad a death stare she turned back to Steve. “I know that it is important and everything but I already told you: Everything I could tell you is classified. Honestly, it probably bothers me more than you...”

Tony was slowly pulling her hand back in his direction.

“We understand and try to respect that. But are you completely sure that there's nothing you could tell us?”

Quickly looking over to her thruster she noticed that Tony was already finished. “What kind of information were you thinking about?”

“I don't know maybe name, school, where you live...something like that...”

She looked back up at the Captain. “Does favourite Disney movie count?...no? Okay...what about... family...”

While Steve thought for a moment Emma met the warning eyes of her father. He literally said 'don't do anything stupid' with just one glance at his daughter. And she understood.

“It would be vague. But it would be something so I guess it's okay...”

“okay so....I have no siblings...and my parents have been together for a long time but never actually got married...”

Just as Cap opened his mouth to say something Sam entered the lab and dragged him out. He said something about Bucky and cheating while Steve didn't even had the chance to excuse himself.

“Fri blur the windows, would ya'?” He fell onto a chair right behind him and sighed.

Leaning onto the desk behind her Emma examined her glove. “You had to shock me...” She picked up one of the tools laying on the table behind her and fixed what had caused the shock.

“Family?...do you even try to keep secrets?...” Tony looked at her done with the world and relieved that no one asked any further questions.

“Do you know how many kids at my age can relate to our family?...at least about not having siblings and unmarried parents...” After the two of them had calmed down Emma made sure no Avengers were on this floor before she went back to her lab. Changing back into her normal clothes she already planned out her afternoon.

“Ems. Here you are! Is there any chance you are free for the rest of the day?” Helping a few employees Emma stood in one of the SI labs.

“Why are you asking?” She didn't look up from the formula trying to find the mistake.

“One of the interns had to go home. Something with family. But he was supposed to lead the tour today and you're the only one left that knows enough about the compound to do the tour...so?” Quickly correcting the formula she turned to face Emily.

“So you're asking me to do his tour?”

“Yeah...” Walking out of the lab Emma was followed by Emily.

“Tourists or business tour?”

“Tourists. Thanks Emma. The tour was already booked and paid...” Stepping into the elevator Emily gave Emma a bit more information. While Emily got out on the intern floor Emma put on her intern badge and grabbed everything she needed before she went back down.

Because of the sudden change of plans the group of tourists was already waiting in the lobby. One of them talked to one of the receptionists as Emma arrived. She walked through the security gates and joined the group. Making sure she had everyone's attention she greeted Rebecca, the receptionist.

“I'm jumping in. Got the badges ready?” She nodded.

Emma turned to the group but before she could say a word someone interrupted her. “Where is our guide?...I think Justin?”

“Listen up everyone! My name's Emma Smith and I will be your tour guide today. Justin had to go home so I had to step in...” It was a pretty small group. “First of all: Don't be afraid to ask any questions. It is literally my job to tell you anything you want to know. But if I tell you not to do or touch something I won't be joking around. We have some dangerous stuff in our labs.” She looked around making sure everyone had heard what she said. “Rebecca is now going to read out your names. Your name is called you take your badge.” Taking a step to the side Emma gave the receptionist the sign to start giving out the badges.

As everyone had their badge Emma explained the different levels. “You guys got level 1: You're guests. You can only go somewhere together with someone with a higher level of security. As soon as you leave this building after the tour your badges are deactivated so don't even try to sneak in again.” She continued to explain the levels until she got to level 9. “Level 9 is only for Avengers. But everyone with level 8, 9 or 10 doesn't need to wear their badge all the time. While level 8 still needs to carry them around level 9 and 10 are always good to go. Level 10 is for the Starks...”

The group was now headed for the gates. Since everyone followed her Emma was the first one to step through it. “Hello Emma, intern.” Some members of the little group looked at the ceiling trying to find out where the voice had come from.

“That is the one and only FRIDAY. You probably have heard of her. She is Mr. Stark's AI and runs the building. She knows where everyone is at any time. She can hear and see everything everywhere in the compound. Except for the toilets.”

The group stepped trough the gates one after the other. Still amazed by the AI they waited for everyone to get through the gate. After everyone was through and Emma had reminded them to wear their badges visible at all times because of the head of security she lead the group to the elevator and up to the first lab floor.

Before they wanted to stop to get some snacks Emma decided to make a little q&a since no one asked a question while they were touring the labs.

“Do you work in those labs as well?”

“Sometimes. Since I'm an intern I mostly work on the 'intern floor' but like everyone else I also go around helping others where I can.”

There were a few more questions about her before a teenage boy asked if she had ever met an Avenger.

“I did. But that is not common for an intern. Usually they stay on their floors but sometimes you meet them in the hallway or outside.” Some others wanted to know a bit about the Avengers but Emma could barely answer their questions. “We are going to visit our little Avengers exhibit a little later today. There you can read a lot about the Avengers and their origins. But I think I speak for everyone when I say we need a snack break...”

The group agreed so Emma walked to the cafeteria. While the tourists ate she checked her phone.

'Where u at?'

Peter had intern day and was in the building but since Emma was touring a group she wasn't in the intern labs as usual.

'ask fri.'

She sent a quick text back as one of the teens walked up to her.

“You seem pretty young to be an intern. I thought only college students were able to get an internship at SI.”

She looked up. “Yeah. Usually that's correct but sometimes Mr. Stark decides to not follow that rule. But I'm not the only highschool intern here...”

“Cool.” He walked back over to his friends and high-fived a few of them. But Emma didn't pay attention to him and looked back onto her phone.

After everyone had eaten they moved on with the tour. Usually the tour groups needed to be split in half whenever they took the elevator but this group was small enough to fit in one all at once. As the elevator doors slid open the group got out. They toured another lab but afterwards they went to visit the exhibit. While a few teens tried to flirt with some of the employees the adults were really interested in the work going on at the moment in those labs.

As they stepped into the 'Avengers hall' everyone looked around amazed by the exhibits. While some ran over to look at the panel of their favourite hero some walked around reading every single text and examining the props.

“Is this the real shield?” One of the teenagers dragged Emma over to Cap's panel.

“No. He uses the real one. This is just an exact replica of it.” T

he boy seemed to have started something because after his question some of the other teens did the same. They called her over to a panel and asked her questions about the exhibits and heroes.

As Emma got a brief moment to relax she took a deep breath before she checked her phone.

“I'm sorry to interrupt you but we have to move one. We have just one station left on our little tour.” The group followed her back into the elevator. As they got out and stepped into the wide and open lab somewhere in the back something caught fire. A few interns rushed to get a fire extinguisher but everyone just continued to work on their own project.

“Welcome to R&D. Research and development. Most interns start here and stick around. It's always great to just tinker a bit and test out your limits. And don't worry we had much bigger accidents here and nothing happened. We have enough security protocols. Feel free to look around and ask what they are doing. Nearly everyone working here is qualified to tour groups like you...” The group didn't wait for long to go and look over the shoulder of one of the employees and interns.

While her group was busy Emma walked over to Emily. She was working with one of the older interns. Cecilia was now an intern for almost 2 years and had a good chance for a job after finishing college. She was good in nearly everything but her favourite topic was optic. She was often a few floors down working on tech focussed on vision and light but whenever she had some spare time she came up to R&D. Emma often talked with her about the hologram tech.

While the three girls chatted some of the teens of the group tried to flirt with some of the college girls.

“I hope you had a great time today...” Leading the tourists down back to the lobby Emma came to an end with the whole tour. After the group stepped through the gates they went to the souvenir shop while Emma made her way back to the penthouse.

“Hey, that's my pizza!”

As Emma walked into the room the smell of pizza was in the air. “Got any pizza for me?” She walked over to the kitchen counter.

“Where were you? You didn't answer my text.”

She rolled her eyes as she grabbed one of the pizza boxes from the counter. “I did answer. You're just too lazy to do something yourself.”

“Can we eat now?” Tony walked over to sit down at the table.

“That's my place!” Emma jumped forward to sit on the chair Peter had pulled away from the table.

“Oh come on!” He sat down next to her.

“So blew up the lab?” She took a big bite from her food.

“No...just the prototype...”

While the three of them were eating their pizza Emma and Peter teased each other. “At least I can answer texts.”

“So do I but I had a tour...” The two teens had stolen pieces of pizza from each other since they had two different pizzas. “Some of the boys tried to flirt with the interns...”

While they were still mocking each other and eating pizza Tony had pulled out his StarkPad and did some paper work. After a while everyone was just sitting around the table. But then Happy came in just as Peter had snatched Emma's phone and stuck onto the ceiling.

“Kid, I'm gonna drive you home...” As he found the teen on the ceiling he just rolled his eyes.

Emma took advantage of the now on Happy focussed Peter and got onto the table to jump up and get her phone back from Peter. She landed on the couch while Tony sighed and told Peter to get down.

“Bye, Mr. Stark!”

Tony had given up on telling him over and over again that just 'Tony' was fine. “Bye, kid...”

Emma waved from the couch while the elevator doors closed.

“So you toured around some tourists today...”

“Yep. Justin had to leave. Something with his family.” They talked a lot about their day. “I think I'm gonna go to sleep. Got school tomorrow...”

She already stood up but her dad stopped her. “No school until this is solved.” He gestured to the bag laying next to the door to Emma's room. “Seriously? Don't you think it's more suspicious to miss school all of a sudden than actually being in school?” She stared at him.

“Fine! But you stay home 'til the weekend.”

“'kay.”

It would only be one more day since it was already Thursday. “I'll be in my room watching a movie or something if you need me...” She grabbed the bag as she entered her room and immediately hid it. Her dad was surprisingly relaxed about this but she couldn't even imagine how Pepper would react to it.

She yawned as the end credits filled the screen of her tablet. Since she had no school tomorrow she didn't mind that it was nearly midnight by now. But she set her tablet aside anyway. She was now wearing the watch from the Avengers all the time just in case. But they had never sent a message. So Emma was on the edge as it began to buzz and an alarm went off.

'caught in the dark protocol activated'

For a second she was confused but then it hit her. She had connected her systems with the watch and the protocol was the one she had installed in Peter's systems when they had first met in costume.

She jumped out of her bed pulling out her suit and began to change right away. Securing her knives she sent a quick text to her dad.

'i'm out for the night'

She opened the window and jumped out. Flying close to the ground she pulled up her mask and hood. Peter's location lit up in front of her. As she had a route she flew full speed.

'be safe' A new text from her dad popped up at the bottom of her screen while she got closer and closer to the city that never sleeps.


	12. protocols and strange alarms (good she's excused for school...)

This was a sticky situation. In every way. It had looked like a regular robbery but now there were hostages. He couldn't fight the bad guys without putting the hostages in more danger. Plus he had to fight his way up and he was now 2 floors away from the civilians but he couldn't fight the guards on this floor alone. Man, how big was this gang?

Webbing up some of them he switched to taser nets. It was a bit easier but he still would need help. Or a damn good plan.

Only a few guards were left on this floor. They were standing with their backs facing the windows. Standing behind a column he tried to think of a way to get past them as he heard the windows shatter. Did they jump out the windows or what happened?

He climbed onto the ceiling and snuck closer to them. Just to see the fully armed guards laying unconscious on the floor. He looked around and found the reason why leaning against the wall next to the broken windows. Even though the silhouette nearly melted into the night he saw the slight blue gleam lightning up the floor filled with cracked glass.

Her dad was just as good at making entrances as Emma but this sure felt epic. The only thing beating the darkness were her own thrusters and the moon outside.

“You called?”

The Spider walked over to her. “So this is the 'caught in the dark' protocol...”

“Couldn't find a better name while talking with you...” The two masked teens stood there taking deep breaths. One grateful for the break he got the other one happy to get out of her room. “So where did you get stuck?”

He explained how he got on this floor and why the protocol had been activated by his suits AI, Karen. She had analysed the situation and simulated the most likely outcome and had activated the protocol since Peter had lost in every simulation she had done. “Wait. When did you install the protocol? The only one I know would be able to do this is Iron Man.”

“He's not the only one able to hack into your suit. It's actually pretty easy.” She walked around the room scanning everything. She looked at the ceiling. “How big is this gang?”

“Pretty big. They got hostages two floors up.”

“And what are we gonna do about it?” She turned to look at him.

“We?”

“Yeah. We. So?”

He looked around the room. It was quite dark but that didn't bother him. Heightened senses. “How about...”

Peter snuck out of the elevator crawling across the ceiling. Some of the bad guys turned but the elevator seemed empty to them.

“Lift seems to be broken.” He talked into his walkie talkie. They were even stupider than the two vigilantes had thought.

While Peter made his way to the staircase he snatched as many of the guards walkie talkies as he could. Instead of carrying them around he webbed them to the ceiling or on top of some shelves. As he reached his check point he had collected everybody's walkie talkie.

'@ ma position'

That was Emma's sign. She kicked open the door to the stairs to get the guards' attention. Some of them wanted to grab their walkie talkie but they grabbed air. Before they realized what was going on Emma had already attacked. She grabbed the taser of the first guard and used it to shock him and his colleagues.

If Emma had been alone she wouldn't have been able to take them all down quickly enough to make sure their teammates one floor above them wouldn't notice but thankfully Peter webbed up guards and made sure they couldn't move. It was a rather quick fight since they had caught them completely off guard.

As they finished the first phase of their plan they stood next to each other in front of the staircase.

“You seem familiar...”

It was just a short break but they both took a deep breath and tried to focus on the next phase of the plan.

“Yeah? Well how about we save the hostages?” She stepped trough the door she had kicked down just before the fight on this floor had started.

She fiddled with the little gadgets in her hand standing right in front of the open vent. With a little boost from her boots she got into it. As she crawled a bit further Spider-Man closed the vent again. She pulled up the map of the vents once again on her screen making sure she had memorized the right way. She had a little déjà-vu from her first time crawling through vents.

While she made her way to her check point Peter tried to snuck in through a window. He was climbing around the building looking for his entry. Down on the street he could see a little hoard of police cars. They knew about the robbery but didn't dare to do anything because of the hostages. They used spotlights to light up the streets around the building. Careful to not be seen he stuck onto the wall just above the for now closed window.

'check point'

His AI read out the text for him while Emma prepared to place her gadgets.

She had created them actually to protect civilians in a street fight but they work just as good for this kind of situation. She let the first little plate fall through the slits before she crawled a few metres further and dropped the second one. Over her screen she checked their positions.

'ready.' She took out the screws holding the opening closed but she held it up. 'go'

While Peter bursts through the window Emma activated the shield. It separated the hostages from the bad guys that were confused by the young hero that had just jumped trough the window.

While Peter webbed up the first criminals the others had the chance to collect themselves and just as they seemed to have come up with a plan Emma let herself fall out of the vents and onto the ground. In this moment the robbers noticed the shield protecting the hostages from them.

Still on the ground Emma pulled away the feet from the one closest to her. As he hit the ground a web hit him and glued him to the ground. While Peter was busy with some guys Emma kicked the guns out of her opponents' hands. Pushing them into the corner of the room Emma pulled out a little silver ball and as the first criminal hit the wall he threw it at them. A little web explosion fixed them there.

The bad guys were soon down and Emma and Peter stepped through the barrier that had protected the civilians. They were relieved as Peter and Emma lead them to the stairs. Emma went back once more to pick up the two plates but quickly joined the group on their way down. Thankfully she wasn't wanted by the police any more so it was no problem for her to step out onto the streets of New York.

The two teens held the doors open for the former hostages that were met with a lot of confused police men. No one had noticed the two heroes inside the building but there were still a lot of reporters and media teams trying to get an interview with one of the hostages or a police officer. All in all it was really busy on the street.

After the last civilian had left the building Emma and Peter made their way across the chaos to one of the officers.

“Ehm...excuse me officer. The bad guys are ready to be arrested.”

The officer turned around and was pretty shocked as he looked right into Spider-Man's and Emma's faces.

“Spidey! Ninja! Thank god you guys were in there! Even though it is our job to catch the criminals...” He gave the information to his colleagues and a lot of them rushed into the building. “See ya'” Emma was faster than Peter as she flew straight up into the night sky. But Peter followed her until she landed on a roof in Midtown.

“I feel like I know you...but I can't figure out why...”

Emma turned around. She hadn't noticed the young hero following her. “Maybe because you fight a lot of crime with a lot of other vigilantes...” She walked over to the end of the rooftop and sat down letting her legs hang over the edge.

It wasn't very dark. No wonder, with all these lights in the streets it was never really dark in New York. Peter sat down beside her. “When did you install that protocol?”

“Remember when we first met? I told you to update your firewall...” A little chuckle escaped her. “I said you would know how to call me if you needed me...”

“Man, you couldn't have just given me your number or something? You just had to go full mysterious girl...”

“Yup. When will I ever get that chance again. And it was way faster this way.”

They sat there for a while silently taking in the view. “I'm sorry. For last night. I didn't know what was going on. But Mr. Stark gave me that little Widow Bite that deactivated the EMP one...”

So that's why her systems had suddenly rebooted. “That's why they rebooted! God, you can't believe how much I thought about this...” She had jumped up.

“No need to jump scare me!” Peter stood on the wall.

“Don't you have that Spidey-Sense?” She looked at him a bit concerned. “Everything alright with your sense?”

He walked back onto the roof. “Yeah.” The little jump scare ended up starting a little fight. The two teens were mocking each other just like they had out of costume earlier this evening.

“Don't you have school or something tomorrow?” It was really late and the two were still joking around on the roof in Midtown.

“Oh, crap! You're right! I gotta go, bye!” He was already swinging towards Queens while Emma laughed on the roof. She didn't need to go to school tomorrow.

Flying through the night Emma had no clue what was going on in the media right now. While she flew away from the City pictures of her and Spidey filled some of the big screens accompanied by journalists and some of the civilians they had saved. The bigger the distance between her and the city got the calmer Emma got. It had been fun but she had still been on the edge the whole time.

She snuck back in through her window. Since she had left her phone, the only notifications that had reached her were the texts from her dad. As she found her phone silently buzzing on her bed she was a bit confused. She pulled down her hood and sat down. She had tons of notifications from her news app. Spidey and her were all over the internet. So much about staying low.

But at least she wasn't proclaimed a criminal or thread any more. Except from the Daily Bugle but they think that the Avengers are a thread.

'still no name for our new young heroine' Some of the headlines were making a scandal out of it but most of them were pretty supportive.

She laid on her bed scrolling through the news still in her suit as someone knocked at her door. Quickly she pulled her blanket over her suit. “It's open!”

Tony peaked his head trough the door frame. “You're all over the news. How did you even know about the hostages?” He sat down on the edge of Emma's bed.

She had pulled away the blanket. “Didn't I tell you about the protocol I installed in Pete's suit?”

“So Karen activated it.” Emma nodded while yawning. “You better catch some sleep.” He took her phone and put it on her desk.

“Have to...hide the suit first...” She stood up and grabbed her pyjamas on her way over to her bathroom. They were still laying on the floor where she had left them. While she was getting ready for sleep her dad went back to his bedroom. Already half asleep she crawled into her bed after hiding her suit.

What was going on? Where was she? Oh, right. She was home, right. But why was FRIDAY waking her up? She didn't need to go to school.

“It's fine, Fri! I'm awake!” She rolled out of bed. “I don't even have to go to school today!” She walked over to her closet and grabbed the first pants and shirt she found. She took a quick shower before getting ready. The cut on her face was starting to heal. Hopefully it wouldn't leave a scar. Making sure she didn't look like a dead body she put on a bit concealer and left to get something to eat. She ate cereal for breakfast before she went to her lab once again. But she made sure to pack her suit.

She had run into a few employees as she searched for her StarkPad. She must have left it somewhere down here yesterday before she had done the tour since it wasn't in her lab and it hadn't been in her room. If Emma had used one of the normal tablets for the employees she wouldn't need to search a whole floor. At least no one could unlock it since it used her biometrics to unlock.

“Why doesn't this thing unlock? Jake can you help me real quick!”

At the very last table two employees tried to unlock a tablet that clearly didn't open. As Jake crossed her way Emma followed him.

“Man, what did you do? This thing does nothing.”

She came closer and grabbed a free tab from its charging station. Suddenly something behind the men caused a little explosion. It didn't cause any damage but it made a lot of noise. As everyone was trying to figure out what had happened Emma quickly changed the StarkPad laying on the table in front of Jake and the other guy. She walked away but waited for them to turn around again to make sure they wouldn't notice.

“See. Those things are not that complicated.” Jake walked back to his little lab a bit annoyed by his colleague.

Back in her lab with her tablet Emma put on her music. Since she had the time and she didn't have to be careful in case her dad walked into her lab she decided to work on the weapon she had in her mind since she had started her little project. It was basically a case for nanobots. They could form a big blade or create a sword with two blades. A repulsor.

They could form anything. Her dad was working on a whole nanotech armour so why don't use it for a weapon? It was a tech with nearly no limits. Nearly. You needed enough little bots to make it work. She worked a bit on her sketch but she needed research before she could start making models on her holo-desk.

While she sat there sketching with a magical view over the lake she drowned in her music. If nothing had interrupted her she wouldn't have moved at all. But as peaceful as the moment was her phone suddenly began to ring really loud.

Being pulled back into reality she nearly fell off the couch. “God! I'm coming!” She threw her StarkPad back on the couch as she jumped up to grab her phone from the desk.

“Hey?”

It was silent on the other side of the phone for a sec. “Hi. Emma?”

She hadn't looked on her phone before picking up the call.

“Listen-” The call was cut off.

“Hello? Hello?!” No one answered. She put her phone without checking who had called her. Just as she was about to sit down again another alarm went off but this time it was a little watch around her wrist.

'Emergency'

The word filled the screen and without thinking it through Emma grabbed her suit. She didn't look at the coordinates or notes before she had changed. Opening a window she stood on her couch. She pulled up her mask and jumped out of the window. While she was picking up speed her systems started. Following the route to the coordinates on her screen Emma didn't even think about what might be awaiting her there.

As she was flying she looked at the notes. If Emma had ever gotten an emergency alarm she would have known that they weren't supposed to come with notes.

It looked like someone had put just some random words to fill it. She choose to just ignore it as she saw the coast in front of her. The closer she got the slower she flew. She landed about half a mile away from the coordinates since the wind threatened to carry her away. She stood in the middle of a field. No signs of the heroes that had called her.

She took a deep breath and continuied to walk to the coordinates. Walking didn't need much attention so she looked at the notes once again. It felt like they were important but Emma couldn't figure out what they were supposed to mean.

As she saw who had sent the message she stopped briefly but quickly got back to making her way through the field. One Steve Rogers had sent the alarm. But wasn't he the one that fought in World War II? Her AI couldn't locate any of the Avengers but she didn't notice the notification at the edge of her screen as she reached the edge of the field.

In front of her was a building. It looked like it stood there for millenials after its habitants left. Carefully she walked over to the fence. There was already a hole cut into it big enough for the Hulk to fit through. Trying to be as quiet as possible she walked over to the wall. The wind got worse as the clouds in the sky turned from white to gray.

Emma looked around searching for a way in. The coordinates seemed to be right in the middle of the old block. It reminded her of the ones in Queens but older. And without anyone around.

She found a window. Or at least what once probably had been a window. Looking around once more she flew up and got in. It was pretty dark inside because of the weather. After activating her night sight she walked slowly to the staircase. Careful to not make any noises headed for the red dot on the screen only Emma could see she patiently tried to scan the building. The words from the alarming message still in the back of her mind.

  
'Try Reaching Alarm Patience Package Evening Dawn  
Soldier Or Science'


	13. to the resucue (it would have been too easy...)

Walking out of what was once supposed to be an apartment Emma nearly tripped over some rubble laying around.

'Scan incomplete'

She rolled her eyes. It would have been too easy. “What blocked your scan?” she asked seemingly the void.

“There seem to be walls resistend to my scans.” Her AI marked where the scan had stopped on the hologram of the building floating in the air right in front of Emma's eyes. It grew until the hologram was life sized. The red marking under her feet didn't lift her mood. Considering to explore the higher floors first she zoomed in on the blueprints in front of her. There were no lamps or any other kind of electricity up there, no sign of a human being or even the Avengers. No need to search there for anything but rubble.

She set the little glowing building aside as she looked at the staircase. There was nothing but the steps leading down. Without her tech she wouldn't see anything down there. It was pitch black. She grabbed one of her knives and walked down step by step. Always ready to defend herself against whatever or whoever the Avengers had faught here.

Emma had reached the floor as a sound from a floor down made her nerves freeze. It wasn't very loud but the muffled voice didn't belong to any of the heroes. Cautiously she walked down the next flight of stairs. She had just settle on the next step as suddenly a new little dot appeared on her map.

“What-?”

“I was able to track down one of the Avengers comms and marked its location. It appears that Hawkeye got a new arrow he recently activated trying to communicate with the Avengers Base.”

So he did put the new arrows Tony had made into his quiver. They had been Cap's idea. The purple dot seemed to float under the digital buidling on her screen. It was close to the red one but it seemed to be a bit deeper.

“Can you mark my position?”

Another dot blinked by the hologram. This time a dark green one. “

Sketch the floor I just came from.” A light blue rectangle devided the three dots. The red one glowing above and the purple under it while Emma's mark was crossing the surface at the moment. She went down another step. Her dot joined Clint's on the lower floor. The grip around her knife tightened as the voices spoke up again. They were louder this time. She was getting closer.

As she reached the half of the staircase she stopped. Light flooded the hallway which looked like it didn't belong here with the plain white walls and icy grey floor. She took out a little disc from her belt and threw it down the hallway. Just before it hit the ground a light blue glowing thruster pulled it back up again. Gladly Emma had been right. The walls and literally everything was stabilized with some sort of metal. The little disc blended in with its surroundings as it stuck to the ceiling with a magnet.

Taking advantage of the darkness Emma stayed where she was while a new floor began to build around her and the Archer's dot on her screen. Luckily whoever had built this didn't think anyone would find their way down here. Big cables that provided the electricity for the biggest part of this hidden base were just under the staircase she was on.

Emma went down a few steps further before jumping down at the side and searching for cover under the stairs she had just been on. Someone looked out of the room they were in down the hall but went back in as they couldn't find anything. By now the voices seemed to discuss something since they didn't stop talking. But the muffled noises constantly reminded Emma that this was porbably a rescue mission or the Avengers were long gone and it had been a false alarm. She hoped it would turn out to be the latter.

After she let go of the breath she had been holding she turned to the wall. Could it be any easier? The cable went into the wall just under the stairs. She got ready to cut it. But wouldn't it cause an alarm or anything? They would know that someone was here with or wothout an alarm. She cut it. The lights in the hallway stopped flooding the floor in cold white light. No alarm went off.

Emma got out of her cover. The floor was pitch black and for a second Emma couldn't tell apart a wall and sheer nothingness. Her night vision reactivated itself. Just before the darkness didn't matter to her anymore she noticed that it wasn't completely dark. From one doorway you could see light flooding through the little space underneath the door. At least the guy that had looked down the hall just before Emma had cut the power didn't notice anything. Trying to not make any noises she tipptoed down the hall. The voices were still filling the silence of the abondened building.

Pressing herself into the wall next to the still closed door Emma tried to think of a plan but nothing came to her mind. She was on the edge only waiting for the people behind the door to notice the intruderer. She didn't have to wait any longer as the doorknob was turned by someone. The door opened a bit but whoever wanted to go outside turned once more and talked to at least one other person. Emma's little disc hadn't been able to scan for any form of life. She could see the shadow move in the light flooding the hallway.

They opened the door fully and just as they were stepping out into the hallway they noticed the missing light. “Wait.” Another man walked past him a flashlight in his hand. He seemed to know where the power had been cut off because he lead his companion straight to the stairs always lightening up the way in front of them with the torch in his hand.

Careful with every move she made Emma snuck into the the room the two men had come from. It was plain white. Only the floor had the same icy color as the hallway. Every surface was clean as can be. The shelves on the walls held neatly sorted books with all black backs. The only thing standing out was the desk in the middle of the room. It was a holo-desk similar to the ones at Stark Industries but still different. The holograms were glowing in a light blue light.

At first it had looked like some tech or other blueprints but as Emma saw one of the little holographic human beings move she took a closer look. There were a lot of them in one room. Everyone of them had a little symbol above their head and a slightly different color. “The hologram seems to be a life stream of the floor we're currently on.” “Yeah. Seems accurate...” She walked around the table careful to not move the projection.

Are those...the Avengers? They had to be. All their symbols were floating over that one room.

A bit off she noticed another one. Walking around the table once more she tried to think of any hero that wasn't in the first room. Except for Thor and Hulk that were off planet everyone seemed to be here. As she got closer to the room with only one hero she realized she had forgotten one. Spider-Man. “Copy the hologram.” her AI did as she was told.

Slowly more and more symbols apeared on her own screen. But she frowned. The dot from Clint's arrow was not with the group of heroes. They must have disarmed them and put their weapons in another room and somehow the arrow must have activated it self or whoever held them captive had tried out their weapons and activated the seemingly harmless arrow.

Before she could think of a plan to get to the others someone grabbed her from behind. “How many are there?!” whoever was holding her was asking the other one. “She's the last one. Remember they send the alarm only to two non-Avengers and we already have that Spider-Boy. Lock her up with him. They're no threat to our plan.” No threat? And what plan were they talking about? She didn't ask. “'Kay.”

The one holding her pushed her into the hallway like a shopping cart. They had fixed the light. At least she knew now what had took them so long.

He tossed her into a dark room. It looked like they had noticed half way done that the room wasn't big enough while renovating it. The door was locked behind her leaving her alone in the dark and cold room.

Before her systems could react to the lightening. Somebody grabbed her hood and pulled it down. “Hey!” She turned around to face two light green glowing lenses. Recognising their unique shape she calmed down but she was still on the edge. “Good to see you too, Spidey.” She pulled her hood back up waiting for her screen to load. “Sorry, man. I thought you were one of the bad guys. Do you know whats going on? The coordinates of the emergency alarm lead me here but as soon as I stepped into the hallway that guy grabbed me and threw me in here...”

Glad her night vision worked again Emma tried to put all the information she had together. “I got here a bit later obviously but I made it to their room. They have literally all the Avengers. In one room. Unarmed and probably some of them knocked out. They have a lot of tech and they think we're no threat to their plan. But locked us up just in case.”

"How did you get past them?! They caught me even though I was crawling on the ceiling.”

“I cut off the power and snuck past them in the dark. While the fixed it I had time to look through their stuff.” Gliding down at the smooth wall she sat down on the floor. Peter followed her lead. “So? What are we going to to do?” She looked at him.

“How's going school?” “You're trying to change the subject.” “Is it working?” She rolled her eyes but had to hold in her laughter behind her mask. “You know you're just about a year older than me, right?” She looked around the room. “Yeah but I'm still older. Do you have a better plan? I already tried to break out. And I can't. Not even with my super strenght and stickyness.” “And your nets?” He shook is head.

He hadn't been in here for long but he still had tried everything he could think of. Nothing had worked. “They must've build everything strong enough to hold super soldiers and enhanced humans. It won't work.” Frustrated she stood up again and started to walk up and down in the tiny room. “Maybe it's easier to think of how we're gonna rescue the Avengers than searching for a way out.” “Maybe...” Peter started walking through the little room too but he wasn't limited to the floor.

“So...everyones in one room. And all weapons in another one...” he was walking on the wall while trying to recall everything Emma had found in the room a few doors down the hall. “Wait.”

“What?” Emma had been in her own thoughts while Peter was now hanging from the ceiling.

He turned to face her. “How do you know how old I Am? I never told you...”

“Can we just concentrate on saving earth's migthiest heroes first?” She started walking again trying to avoid the subject.

“Assuming that some of them are knocked out we have to take out the bad guys before we can do anything. Luckily there're only two of them...”

She was actually talking to herself but Spider-man interrupted her train of thought. “Two!? There are at least five guys! And those were calling for back-up.”

Emma let out a deep sigh. “Great. Let's say there are at least eight or ten guards or whatever between us, the Avengers and their weapons.” This was not getting easier. Not at all.

“You have a plan where exactly the others are?” “Oh, yeah. I scanned their hologram of this floor. I'll send it to your suit as well.” Just seconds later he thanked her before going back to silence only filled with their steps on the floor, walls and the ceiling.

“Maybe if we get close enough and they catch us they won't bring us back here but lock us up together with them...” Peter stopped.

“That is possible but better for a plan B. Minus the fact that they probably take our suits if they catch us. And I'm sure you like unmsking just as much as I do.” He was right. Emma wasn't keen on getting unmasked before even having a hero-name.

”You still don't have a hero-name we could call you by the way.” He looked at her.

“I know. It's not easy finding a name without actually having any powers.”

“What about Mystery-Girl? Or Shadow Huntress?” Was he being serious?

“Really? You want to talk about this right now?”

“Or what about Night-Girl? My guy-in-the-chair likes that one.”

“I know but how do you think will me having an alias help us help the Avengers?”

“Come on. It's impossible to get out of here. There are no vents and the door is crazy strong. Like.. I don't know...vibranium or something.” She sighed and sat down. Peter jumped down from the ceiling too. “So how's school going?” A little chuckle escaped her. Did he ever lose his positivity?

“Good. I'll only lose my role if I miss at least two more rehearsals. And I'm ensemble.”

“So you're a theatre kid.”

“And you're a nerd that is probably too scared to tell his crush how he feels.”

“Ouch. That was accurate.” He laughed. “How'd you know?”

“I smell a nerd from miles away...” She managed to stay serious for just a second before the two burst into laughter.

“Did you drink sarcastic juice for breakfast or what?”

“Nope. I think it's in my genetics.” Her thoughts trailed off to her dad. Hopefully they had just removed the suit. Not his arc reactor. “How strong you said was the door..?” Emma had an idea. A crazy and pretty risky one but if it worked they would be one step closer to helping the heroes.

“Like vibranium or something. Why'd you ask? Only some crazy sharp vibranium sword could cut through that.”

She quickly got up. “I have an idea but before we try it we should think of a plan to help the others.”

“What idea?” Peter stood in front of her as she grabbed one fo her knives from her thigh and held it in front of his face. “You're plan is to threaten them with a little knife?” He was confused to how a knife could help tham get out of the tiny room they were trapped in.

“It's made of vibranium. And crazy sharp.”

In realisation his eyes widened and with them the lenses of his mask. “Man. How did you get that?” “My dad sometimes works with it. So how do we get to them?”

They sat down on the floor. “Wait.” She put her knife back where it belonged and pulles out a little rectangle.

“Is that a bomb or something?”

“No.” She simply put it on the floor between the two of them and pushed a button on it. She changed the settings a bit over her screen before the hologram on the floor lit up the room a bit. Everything from the wires to the vents was glowing in a light blue right between the two.

“You couldn't have done that earlier?”

“Shut up.” She marked the vents red. “If we can get into the vents here, we could sneak past them into that room...” she pointed at some points her AI then marked.

“Or we could go to the weapons first. That way they won't be able to use them against us. Are sure they're there?” The places Peter had pointed to were marked by his AI, Karen.

“Yeah. They accidantally activated Clint's new arrows. They're just prototypes so they didn't deactivte themselves since then. I'm able to track them over the signal their sending to the SI serveres instead of the Avengers servers. And those big chunks have to be Tony's and Rhodey's suits...”

The two continued to mark possible ways to get to the trapped Avengers or their weapons in different colors.

“What if one of us goes to secure the equipment and the other one makes sure everyone's alright.” She looked up at Peter he was still staring at the holoram between them.

“Maybe we could somehow get their stuff to them and overrun the bad guys on our way out. That way we would have a better chance to get out unharmed or with just a scratch.” Both looked up from the hologram.

“Okay. So you go get the stuff. You can carry more than me and you have your spidey-sense and everything. I'll go tell the others about our plan. We avoid fighting on our way to them but fight our way out.” He nodded while she grabbed the little hologram and put it back into her pocket.

“Do I need to carry Mr. Stark's and Rhodey's suit? They can call them, right?”

“Yeah.” She pulled out her knife again. “Here goes nothing.” She slammed the balde into the door. And it went right through it.

She cut around the lock before kicking down the door. In the corridor their ways parted. Peter ran down the hallway while Emma got into the vent a few metres away from the now broken door.

Why the hell was she always she one crawling though the vents? While she was slowly but surely making her way towards the group of heroes Peter had already begun to get their equipment in the vents so it wasn't too obvious. As she finally reached her destination she stopped for a second listening.

She heard voices but this time familiar ones. The ones that flew up to the balcony whenever she sat outside doing her homework or just working on other things. As quickly and as quietly as she could Emma opened the vent making sure nothing fell to the ground not even the screws. She waited for another second making sure no one had noticed her. The Avengers' voices were still roaming in the room beneath her as she saw a bundle in the vent straight ahead. It looked like Peter was at least half way done with his part of the plan. She grabbed once more one of her knives from her thighs before jumping down.

Landing on her feet she saw the heroes in front of her. They had stopped talking as they saw Emma standing there. Everyone except Tony. He was the only one not facing her but Rhodey turned him around to make him stop talking. Emma took a step forward but immediately stopped as the hereoes started talking to her all at once.

“Guys! She can't hear something when we're all talking at the same time!” Natasha walked to the front but stopped seemingly in the middle of the plain white room. “Here's a barrier. You walk into it you get thrown back into the wall behind you.”


	14. missions' endings (if only it'd always end this way...)

“There's a control panel at that wall. You have to push one of the buttons so we can hear you.” Rhodey stood next to Natasha. Everyone was now standing and coming closer to the barrier.Only her dad stood in the back. With a smile on his face he kept shaking his head. No one but Emma noticed how he starting writing on a little piece of paper. 'Why didn't you listen to my warning?' He held it up just long enough for Emma to read the message but instead of answering she walked over to the panel on the wall.

Gladly the buttons where labled. Rhodey told her to push the green button but Emma decided to push the one labled 'barrier'. “The green one.” Emma could hear something moving in the wall but it was nearly inaudible with the Avengers talking beside her. “I thought 'barrier' was a better idea than just 'sound'.”

She walked over to the middle of the room. “So you wanna stay or go?” Just as all of them were standing around Emma a bundle dropped down out of the vents. “We weren't sure our message would reach you.” Cap stood in the back. “Yeah about that. What were yo trying to tell me with the gibberish in the notes?” she asked while turning to pick up the bundle on the floor behind her. “The first letters. They spelled 'trapped sos'. Told him it wasn't necessary.” her dad answere for the Captain.

Shaking her head she unwrapped Clint's quiver and his bow. She threw the black fabric over her shoulder before handing its contents to the archer. Just as the confused Avenger got a hold of his weapons another bundle dropped to the ground.

“Rhodey, d- Tony can you call your suits?” Emma was already giving the Russian spy her Widow Bites.

After a while everyone had their equipment back. Including Tony and Rhodey. “You got a plan? Or was this everything?” Sam had his suit back on as Peter jumped out of the vent the last piece of Avenger equipmnet in his hands. “Forgot this. Sorry, Mr. Rogers.” He handed Steve his shield. “The spider-kid's here too. God, we're doomed!” Sam threw his hands in the air.

“How'd you know where to find us? Scans don't work for some reason...” At that Emma let the little rectangle fall to the ground. As it landed the group could see a holographic version of the floor.

“...how? And is that Spidey?” Rhodey pointed to the symbol above the room Emma and Peter had just escaped.

“Yes. It's not a live scan but better than nothing. The only thing moving is the signal of Clint's new arrows. They somehow managed to cut you off of the Avengers servers but the prototype of his new arrows used the SI servers. I'll explain later.” There Peter took the lead. He had more information about the security down here.

While he explained their plan and intentions to the Avengers Emma stood to the side. Sam seemed a bit frustrated about Peter taking the lead right now but even he couldn't see this plain white room anymore.

As Peter got to the part that would follow Tony snuck away from the group and pulled his daughter aside with him. “I'm not mad. But what the hell you think you're doing here?!” He was whispering just loud enough for Emma to hear him.

“I got an emmergency alarm. You think I would just wait for you guys to come back?”

“No. but maybe a more subtle way would have done the job too.”

“Yeah? Well I didn't get captured immediately.” It was hard to keep whispering but the team was in the same room. And the room wasn't that big.

“Maybe this was our plan...” “Yeah. Your plan was to get locked in a room without your weapons or a way to escape...” You could smell the sarcasm from this conversation from miles. “At least we were together. And we just had a plan.”

“No. You not.”

“Okay. No we not...but still you can be damn glad your mum doesn't know about this.” He gestured to her mask.

“Well at least mum wouldn't complain about being rescued, dad.”

“Dad?!”

Both looked at the super soldier a few steps away from them.

“What dad?” Emma tried to play dumb.

“Don't play dumb. You just called Tony 'dad'. Is there anything you guys have to tell us?” Damn. Why was it so hard to lie to the war hero?

But before one of them could answere they heard keys unlocking the door. “Can that wait 'til we're out of here?!” Everyone shuffled to the back of the room covering Peter and Emma.

Two guards walked in not noticing how the Avengers were now suited up. One of the held a tablet with a picture on it. While the second guard pushed the green button the one holding the tablet turned it so the Avengers could see it. It was actually a video. The guard was looking down at it too, clearly enjoying what he saw. “You recognise your little heroes? You only got them trapped too. Look at them sitting in a dark room, thinking they failed you...isn't it cute?” The tablet showed a video of the two teens from minutes ago. “They think they could still rescue you. Pathetic. But you know two heroes more to get rid of.”

He shrugged and turned to walk out of the room but he and his partner were stopped by Widow Bites hitting them right in their necks.

“You couldn't have done that earlier?”

“They didn't even notice we're suited up...”

“They think they have a perfect plan...” They tied up the guards and left a little note. 'Do your reseach...' The note stuck on the face of the guard with the tablet, neatly secured with web.

Using the keys they got out of the room. “We're splitting up. You go to the right. We go to the left.” The blueprints had showed them two ways back to the stairs and to make sure no one could attack them from the other way they split up.

Vision and Wanda went ahead to call a Quinjet.

Steve, Bucky, Sam, Clint and Natasha turned left while the rest walked to the right.

“How many guards are there?”

“A lot.”

“How arccurate...”

Peter and Emma walked in the front.

“And please avoid blowing any holes into the walls. There's a whole building over us and I'm not keen on being buried beneath it...”

“Why do the kids give commands again?” He turned to his best friend.

“They managed to escape...”

Peter and Emma had suddenly stopped behind a corner. “Unless you two can fight combatin these you stay out of this.” Emma had turned to them. Before the two men in metal suits could complain her and Spider-Man were already gone.

As the colonel turned around the corner he saw the two teens fighting off about five guards at once. Emma knocked them out and Peter webbed them up. Panting she stood in the middle of the hallway. “You coming?” Spechless because of the teens' fighting skills the two men followed them. While Rhodey was just shocked Tony hid a proud smile behind his metal mask.

“Why is there a door lying on the floor?”

“How do you think we escaped?” They took a big step over the vibranium door on the ground.

On their way to the stairs they only met one other group of guards before meeting with the rest of the team again. “We should look through these rooms as well. In that one they have the hologram of the floor...” she pointed at one of the doors. Everyone agreed and chose a door. It were just enough heroes to storm all rooms at once.

On Steve's signal everyone burst through the doors in front of them.

Emma's lead her back into the room with the holo-desk. The two men were still there, their backs facing the door. “Hello, there.” The smaller one turned around first but a fist hit his face immediately. He was knocked out.

“No threat you said?” She turned to face the one that seemed to be the head of all of this. “Do your research.” She attacked first but he was fast.

In their fight books fell off of the shelves. Eventually Emma switched to fight with her knives. One in each hand she attacked him. He still somehow managed to slam her into the desk.

“You try to beat me? Please. Even the Black Widow was defeated by me...” He snarled. “Well...there is first time for everything...” She pushed herself up to stand on the desk. “I mean it took you quite a while to find out I hacked you. Wait you didn't notice.” With that she jumped over him.

“I beat the Avengers. You're nothing compared to them.”

“Yet you're still here, struggling to keep me down.” A good aimed kick caused him to crash into the wall behind him. The cuts all over his skin hadn't seemed to bother him but the crash into wall seemed to steal his breath. Emma walked over to him taking a small ball out of one of her pockets.

“No threat...at least I know when I've lost.” She let it fall to the ground. It exploded and left the man webbed to the wall. On her way she dropped another one on the smaller one still lying by the desk.

As she walked out of the room and closed the door again she joined the others already waiting by the stairs. “You ready?” She walked past them up the stairs. Everyone followed her lead. Tony and Steve in the back.

“You know you'll still need to explain.” It wasn't a question. And Tony knew he couldn't talk his way out of this one. He just sighed before chosing to fly up the stairs.

Outside Wanda and Vision were waiting by the Quinjet on the field. “Everything done?” “Yes.” Everyone was getting on the plane. Even though they hadn't really faught they were still exhausted and sat or laid down in the back of the plane.

“Should we drop off the young hero somewhere? She isn't part of the team, right?” Vision stood behind Steve and Tony. “No. She's coming to the compound with us.” He went to start the jet.

They soon landed on the roof of the compound. It had still rained the whole way back but it didn't look like it would get better anytime soon. Some of the heroes had taken a nap but were now wide awake again as the group made their way to the common floor.

“I still don't understand how you got out of that room. Spidey couldn't escape with his powers but how did you break that vibranium door?” Some were sitting on the couch while others leaned against the cold windows. “I cut it.” Emma fiddled with one of her knives while they were recalling the events of the day.

“It's vibranium too, right?” “Yes, Captain.” Peter had discribed how they had been trapped in that tiny room and how they had escaped. “So. Any questions?” Spider-man ended his little presentation after Rhodey had interrupted him.

To his urprise Steve stood up. “This has nothing to do with you, kid, but I do have a question. And I think I'm not the only one...” His gaze wandered from Tony to the other end of the couch where Emma was leaning against it. The others just looked at him in confusion. Only a few of them had heard Tony's and Emma's discussion earlier and most of them thought they had just misheard something as Emma had called him 'dad'.

“While Queens first explained their plan to us. Tony and our little hero stood off to the side...”

“Cut the crap, Rogers. Get to the point. I'm exauhsted.” Sam interrupted him.

“She called him 'dad'. Alright. You weren't the only one that heard them.” Natasha walked upto him from the window.

Some of the other heroes were shocked others were just confused as hell. “What? You trying to tell me that tin-head here is the dad of our nameless, ass-kicking little heroine?” Steve just nodded at Sam who had jumped up from the couch.

Now everyone was looking at the two, trying to make any connection between them. “Stark doesn't even have kids. We would know, right?” Clint looked at Natasha. “They ddin't know about your family either, Clint. Maybe he had a secret daughter. I wouldn't be surprised...”

“Hey. Okay. I know I wasn't always very responsible but you think I had a daughter I never knew about?!” Tony had stood up too.

Everyone was asking him questions. Meanwhile Emma could have screamed at her own stupidity again.

But before she could do anything Peter walked up to her pulling his mask of as he stood in front of her. “You can't imagine how Ned will freak out if he finds out about all this.” He wasn't mad at her. Actually he had suspected it somehow. She had known his age, that he was a nerd. And Emma couldn't hide the lame jokes from him with her mask on.

“Yeah. He'll better not know about this...” She pulled her mask down too, leaving her hood still on.

The others were still busy asking Tony or making assumptions about the whole situation. They didn't even notice the teenagers joking around by the edge of the couch. Only as Peter pushed her mockingly and she caught herself landing on the couch did they turn around.

“Boots off the couch.” She rolled her eyes and jumped down only to land in front of Steve. “I'm Emma. Nice to meet you. I'll be right back.” She turned around just to chase after Peter. “Give me my phone, Pete!” The team watched spechless.

“She's Peter's sister?” It wasn't really a question but Clint also wasn't really sure about it.

Steve turned to Tony. “I told you I could explain everything if you just stopped asking questions.” He walked over to the kitchen well aware that he hadn't yet answered any of their burning questions to make himself a cup of coffee.

“So she is your daughter?” Steve had followed him.

“Yes. Got a problem with that, Rogers?” In the background Emma was still chasing after Peter who had her phone in his hands.

“And you let her run after criminals in a crop top?”

“First of all, Capsicle: I don't feel good when she's out there too. But, second of all, you ever tried to talk me out of doing something?” The soldier nodded, knowing it'd be impossible if you weren't Pepper. “She is is even more stubborn. I don't know how this even lastet nearly 15 years.”

“She's Pepper's and yours. You can see it.” Natasha leaned against the counter watching the teens using the room as a parkour.

“Yeah. But I don't want them to destroy the interrior. Kids!” The two teens stopped in their movements. Peter stuck to the ceiling while Emma was hovering in the air.

”Pete give her back her phone.” He let it fall out of his hand forcing Emma to catch it mid air. “Watch it, loser.”

“You know what. I think I'm gonna go to sleep before I start hallucinating.” Sam walked out of the room followed by Wanda and Vision. They seemed to not mind the now exposed secret.

“So your daughter got herself wanted by Shield. Yeah, we should've known...” Clint was interrupted by his phone ringing. “Speaking of kids. It's Laura. Got to go.”

“Why'd you keep her from us? I mean from the public is logical. No papparazzi. But why didn't you tell us?”

“It was Pepper's idea. In case we broke up this group no one had this sensible information...and besides she did help with some of our weapons. Your new Widow Bites for example...”

“She's good. I like her.”

“I'm gonna go. It was a long day.” “'Night, grandpa.” On his way out Steve rolled with his eyes.

“She's got good training for doing all this secretly....How'd you find out?” Bucky was honestly impressed by her fighting skills. “Found her suit.”

Bucky also left after watching the two teens sparring on the couch for a while. “You better find Pepper. You were supposed to be in a meeting today, weren't you?”

“Shit. You're right! Make sure they don't blow up anything!” Tony rushed to the elevator, leaving Natasha and the two teens on the couch behind.

Natasha walked over to the couch as the first lightning crawled across the sky. Sitting down on the couch between the two teens she stopped their sparring. “Peace?” She looked at them.

“Fine.” Emma let herself fall onto the couch next to the Russian spy. “So you designed my new Bites? Their really good.”

“Thanks.”

“And you knew her before?”

“Yeah. I walked into her lab on accident but I already saw her in school...”

“How about a movie since Tony just left me babysitting you...”

“We don't need a babysitter.” she raised a brow at Peter. “And how often did you blow up things when no one was around?” He sat down quietly.

“Any wishes? If not I'm chosing...” She switched on the TV. “Star Wars.” Peter suggested his favorite movie series. “Okay...but I have no clue which one if´s the first...” Natasha handed Peter the remote so he could play the first one. “Fri, dim the lights, please.” The AI darkened the room while Emma grabbed three blankets that were laying around.

Natasha would never admit it but it was great having the two teens somehow in their team. Even Emma had already snuck into her heart over the short time they knew each other. She loved how she could be silly and full of sarcasm in one moment and in the next she faught off a dozen of bad guys nearly double her size. She reminded her of herself when finally accepted this little family. She didn't flinch away as the teens came closer to her leaving her in between to teens watching Star Wars during a storm.

As the end credits filled the screen all three were alerady asleep.

As Tony came back from the meeting he turned off the TV and pulled the blankets over the three. This whole thing had gone better than he thought and seeing the kids and Natasha laying on the couch fast asleep he knew there had never been a reason to actually worry about. “Fri, please take a photo of this and save it to my personal documents.” “Saved to 'Kids'-file.” The AI whispered back.

He turned around and walked back to the elevator. “This is gonna be my new background...”

It was a peaceful moment but he would still have to tell Pepper what happened. And how. But not today.


	15. Calmer days (with lots of lab time...)

As she woke up it was still dark. Or did Friday dim the room? “Morning.” Only half awake Emma turned around. For a quick second panik started to rise inside her before her brain caught up with the events of the last day. “Morning, Captain.” He stood in the kitchen eating an apple.

“How late is it?” She let her hair fall out of the destroyed bun.

“Too late for school...” he looked at the clock at the microwave. “..nearly 12.”

Emma just mumbled a little 'thanks' before making her way over to the elevator. Yesterday the adrenaline had still rushed through her veins but now she could fell every hit she'd taken in while fighting her way out of that base. Her muscels were sore.

After she stepped into the penthouse she immediately made her way to her room. She was still in her suit but her whole body hurt just from thinking about moving anymore. She fell onto her bed. For a few minutes she just laid there and stared at the ceiling.

After a while she slowly got up. On her way she grabbed some clothes before finally reaching the bathroom. Pulling her hair up in a new bun she noticed the few cuts and bruises on her stomach. “Great...” She searched through the cabinets looking for the first aid kit. “How did he even cut me..?” She peeled off the top from the top part of the cut before starting to clean it.

“Emma?!”

“In here!”

Just a minute later her dad slowly opened the door to her bathroom. “He got you bad...” He took the supplies from her hands and started cleaning her cut himself.

“Why'd you even choose a crop top out of all the things...?”

“I need to move and it's comfy...”

After he finished he wrapped a bandage around her middle. “It's not that deep. If you don't tear it more open it won't need stiching...” He packed everything up again.

“Thanks, dad.”

“Don't thank me just yet. Be happy if you survive dinner...” “What?”

Before she could ask anymore he was already out of her room. Anyway. She changed after getting ready. Leaving her suit mindlessly laying on her bathroom floor she grabbed her headphones and went to go get some food. She ended up eating nearly half a watermelon on the balcony before reading a bit.

She had no eye on the clock so it was quite easy for Peter to scare her in the afternoon. He sneaked up behind her with some cookies. He actually didn't want to scare her but as the cookies landed on her legs Emma jumped up in surprise and he couldn't hold in his laughter. She hit him with her book. “Don't sneak up on me like that!!” She was nearly screeching. If it wasn't for her empty stomach she would have been mad at him. She took the cookies and began to eat but as Peter reached to grab one she slapped his hand away.

“Nope. Those are mine now.” She turned to block him off from the food. “Hey.” Emma kept dodging his arms as he tried to get a hold of the food which basically lead to Peter chasing Emma trough the penthouse.

Just as Pepper wanted to step out of the elevator Peter ran right past it. Confused she stepped in. “Oh. Hey, mum.” Emma waved her from across the room but she was takled onto the couch in the next moment. “Yes!” Peter held up his achievment. Two cookies.

“I'm not gonna question this...you had a good day?”

“Yup. Read a book and then tried to protect the food from Peter...” Emma walked over to give Pepper a hug. “Hey, Ms. Potts.” “Again, Pete, it's Pepper...not Ms. Potts...” She grabbed a cup and filled it with coffee. “Where's Tony?” “Right here...sorry...Capsicle had a few questions...so how was the trip?” He grabbed another cup of coffee and sat down next to Pepper.

As Pepper and Tony started to talk about SI stuff Peter and Emma snuck out. “Where're we going?” “I don't know 'bout you but I'm going to my lab.” The elevator stopped and Emma walked down the hallway. “And hat you're gonna do?” She turned around just to see Peter following her on the ceiling. “You have to show off, don't you?” She just grabbed her StarkPad before walking back to the elevator.

“Now what?”

“Now we go sit and stalk the employees...”

She walked out of the elevator and into a seemingly empty room. Peter had never been here while Emma had claimed this room from the beginning on. Some matts had been missing but now it was finished. “What is this?”

“My training room.”

“Isn't it a bit small for training?” He was right it wasn't big but it'd do the job. And besides she designed it specifically for the digital training.

“Oh, it's just for AR training. It's quite efficent...”

They ended up watching the second Star Wars movie on one of the walls' screen while eating snacks they had snatched from the employees canteen.

“Here you are...you coming?” Tony walked into the room while the last scene filled the screen.

“Coming where, dad?” Her eyes were glued to the screen.

“Dinner...”

“Sure.” The two teens got up after the film was finished. In the hallway Peter wanted to walk the other way. “I need to head home or May will be so mad...”

Tony had stopped in his pace. “I called her already. You're staying tonight...”

“Really? Thanks, Mr. Stark!” Emma just rolled her eyes while already ahead of the two. “You coming?” She quoted her dad.

As the three walked out of the elevator Pepper was already setting the table. “Found them. They were watching Star Wars in her training room...” Tony helped Pepper set the table.

“We're having guests?”

“Not really. It's more like you guys have a lot of things to explain...” Behind Peter and Emma the Avengers stepped out of the elevator. Wanda and Natasha walked over to help Tony and Pepper.

Wanda guided the food over to the table while the rest sat down leaving Peter and Emma standing. “Did we miss something?” Peter was faster then Emma as he joined the team at the table leaving only the seat between Natasha and Pepper free.

“Thanks for the food.” Bucky was the first to speak after Emma sat down. “So...what happened that you guys met Emma all at once? I mean I always thought that each of you would sooner or later cross her ways but everyone at once...” Nobody said a word. They only looked at Emma and Tony.

“I think explaining is hard...wait a second...” Emma stood up before turning to her mum again. “..but don't be mad...” She walked to her room.

“Anyone want salad?” Steve tried to fill the silence. But just as Clint wanted to take the bowl Emma came back.

“That was not my plan...” Tony had turned around before Pepper.

“Of course...does anyone in this room have enough common sense to not put themselves in danger?...”

“You're not mad..?” Emma sat down again this time in her suit minus the boots.

“No. Why would I? Look at your dad! Do you really think I would be mad? I mean yeah it's not great that you put yourself in danger but you didn't get harmed so I guess it's fine for now...” Everyone let out a deep breath. Yeah they were the Avengers but still Pepper Potts was a scary woman when she was mad.

“But this still doesn't explain how you guys met?”

“We were held captive by a group of criminals and luckily Peter and Emma came to our rescue. But I guess we weren't suppose to hear the little argument between Tony and her in the room we were locked in. That conversation revealed the first little part and then we talked about it after we faught our way out and reached the compound.” Sometimes it was really good to have an android who looked at things from a distance.

“So the youngest heroes saved you all...this is hilarious...”

The evening after that was filled with other stories. Emma talked a lot with Natasha and Wanda while the whole team moved from the table to the couch.

Soon Emma felt exhausted and went back to her room to get some rest. Soon after Emma the others also left to get some sleep. The last one to go to bed was Pepper. She took a quick glance into Emma's room before going to her own to lay down at get some sleep.

It was in the middle of the night as Emma woke up. She thought she'd heard a sound from the living room but heard nothing after listening for a while. “Ugh...” It was 4am. And her body seemed to be more awake with every minute that passed. Frustated she finally got up. Her limbs hurt for a moment but the pain settled down soon after she had grabbed some clothes.

She splashed her face with some cold water in the bathroom to wake herself up a bit more before she put her hair in a loose ponytail.

Everyone seemed to still sleep as she made her way through the living room in the dark. Instead of shoes she wore some fuzzy socks. She didn't want to wake anybody up this early.

In the elevator she was even happier to have worn the fuzzy socks. The ground was cold but still a bit wet from mopping. She would have just left foot prints with her shoes.

She got out on the lab floor and walked over to her own lab. “Fri? Could you play some calm music?” She took her headphones and switched on her holo-desk. She opened the Avengers' Task List and picked one of the projects. Besides update ideas there were also new ideas on the list coming from the heroes. Often those ideas came on missions.

Emma's 'new project' was just another new arrow for Hawkeye. They're supposed to be able to infiltrate security systems. Emma was thinking of little robots in the tip of the arrow that can get to their destination on their own. But they had to be very, very tiny and the arrow should look like a simple plain one. The later was no problem but the robot lead her back to her nanotech designs she had develpoed some time ago. She hadn't found the time to work on them again but now was a good time. She had pulled out some snacks she always kept in one of her cabinets.

Leaning over the table she worked on the big blueprints in front of her. She had to keep in mind that later they would be a lot smaller then the hologram. She was soon fully concentrated on the light blue glowing hologram and didn't even notice the sunrise.

It was around noon that Friday send a notification to Tony's phone during a meeting. 'It seems Mini Boss has managed to solve the nanotech blueprints to use them for Hawkeye's new arrows.' A smile crept onto his face. “That's my girl...” he whispered to himself before standing up.

“Excuse me but I'm needed in my labs...” He walked out of the meeting and headed for the elevator. He had tried to help her get the nanobots working but he couldn't figure out what had been wrong. As he approached her lab he had Friday turn down her music a little. She didn't notice it though.

As Tony entered her lab and looked over her shoulder she was still working on the programming for the arrows' nanobots. A high pitched screech left her throat as she turned around and pumped into her dad. “God! You couldn't have warned me?!”

She walked around the talble grabbing a handful of nuts on her way. “Heard you finally cracked those nanobots...”

“Yep.” She was altering something on the design before turning her whole attention to her dad.

“What was missing? We searched for days on end...” Emma showed him the open tabs and everything she had tried until she had finally figured out what had been missing.

“That's my girl...” He sat on the couch as Emma showed him her final design. “You probably could use them for a suit or litereally anything. The possiblities are endless...” She let herself fall onto the couch next to Tony. They kept on discussing different ideas but soon the nuts were empty so they went back up to the penthouse to eat something.

“All you need is a housing big enough to fit the nanobots...” They were still rambling about the nanobots as Pepper walked into the room. “So what was so imprtant in the labs?” She snatched something from Tony's plate. “Emma got the nanobots to work. This offers so much new possiblities.”

Before Pepper could answer the Avengers alarm went off. “Gotta go!” Tony jumped up from his seat while looking on his phone. Emma got up too but Tony pushed her back into her chair. “You stay. This should be a quick one...”

“Be safe!” He was already suiting up on the balcony as the Quinjet started on the roof.

“Come on!” She sank back into her seat but immediately regretted slouching. She still had the cut across her stomach while the one in her face was nearly vanished thanks to some advanched bio tech.

Emma took in a sharp breath. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah. Just...bruises from fighting...” She sat back straight up and waited for the pain to ease away.

“Really? Like that bruise on your face...” You can't hide anything from your mum, can you?

“It's nothing really. I'll go to Cho later...” She was already standing up again as her mum wanted to say something. “I promise...”

“Okay...I have to go to a meeting but I'l talk her later...” She walked out into the elevator.

Emma kept her promise after changing her socks for some sneakers. “I'll be right with you but I have to just...okay what can I do for you?” Cho was really nice and would always help you if you just asked her.

“I may or may not have a long cut across my stomach...”

“I won't even ask...lay down please...” Emma laid down on the metal table by the window. “Now where did a girl like you get a cut like this?” She was examineing the long cut before getting to work.

“I...needed to get some friends out of trouble...” It was a strange feeling as her cut was healed with the tech.

“So you're on of the high school interns...”

“Is it that obvious?”

“At least you know how to get out of trouble...that's always good when working for an Avenger...”

“Yeah...” Since the cut wasn't deep it didn't took too long to heal it.

“And we're done...”

“Thank you so much, Cho. My mum would have killed me if she had seen that cut...” She sat on the edge of the metal table.

“Anytime. Besides you often helped me so I'm glad to return the favour, Emma.”

“See ya'” Emma walked out of the room now free from the bandage around her middle.

As she came back to the penthouse her dad landed on the balcony. “Hi dad!” He stepped out of the suit and into the apartment. “Hey!”

“Everything went smooth?”

“Yep. I think that's a first...”

“Mum's in a meeting and Cho fixed my cut.”

“Great. How 'bout we get working on the nanotech?”

“Yes! But we need snacks that shit is draining...” She walked over to the kitchen to grab some snacks before walking to the lab with her dad.

They started working on a casing with arc reactor and ended up working 'til noon the next day. Pepper dragged them up to eat something and get some sleep before they went down again. They barely left the lab floor for anything other than new snacks. Emma was still excused from school so it was no problem.

Monday evening they were finally finished with the coding for the nanotech suit. The casing was long finished only the program to connect Friday to the whole nanotech had been missing.

“Let's put it to the test...” Tony installed the casing and tapped it two times. Slowly the suit formed around him.

“Does it work?”

He started hovering a bit over the ground before he shoot a repulsor blast at one of the chairs. “Okay...basics work...let's test it a bit more...”

The testing ended up lasting a few hours and it only proved Emma's hypothesis. The nanotech had nearly no limits. You just had to have enough nanobots. And the right coding.

Emma stayed home one more day but then returned to school. The cut on her cheek was nearly invisible and the bruises were coverd by her clothes. Nobody asked why she had missed school or why she didn't come to rehearsal. She didn't go on patrol that week and since she had a lot of homework and a lot to catch up to she had no time to go to her lab. But she always found some time to spend with the team of heroes.

Bucky and Steve helped her with an essay for history and she often found herself just sitting in the common room doing her homework. Pepper had a lot to do after the business trip and the rest of the time you could find Emma asleep. But not always in her bed.

It was Saturday again as Emma was woken up by the smell of breakfast. She got up but didn't bother changing before following the smell into the living area.

“This smells so good...” Pepper was standing in the kitchen as Emma already snatched a little piece of pancake. “Are we celebrating something?”

“No, I just finally have some free time. At least this morning...” Emma helped carry the stacks of pancakes to the table. Tony walked in just as Pepper and Emma sat down at the table.

"Uh..pancakes...” He sat down next to Pepper.

“Finally finished your project?”

“Yess. And I'm straving...” He stacked a few pancakes on his plate before turning to Emma. “Emms, Nat and Wanda wanted to ask you if you wanted to train with them?”

“Sure! I wanted to train today anyway...” She had already finished her pancake while her parents were still eating. She wasn't a breakfast person even though she had no problem with getting up early. “They'll wait for you around 10 in the gym then...”

“Around 10? That's...now! Enjoy breakfast bye!” She got up and rushed to her room to quickly change into work out clothes before rushing down to meet with Wanda and Natasha in the Avengers' gym.


	16. Passing time (things calm down a bit...)

“Sorry, I'm late. My dad obviously had no clue what time it is...” She walked into gym already out of breath from running down the stairs instead of taking the elevator.

“It's alright...” Wanda and Natasha were already stretching on the mats. “You want to train combat or something else?”

Emma let her bag fall on the edge of the mat before walking over to the two Avengers. “I think I'll go with combat at first...” She started stretching besides the other two.

“Ever trained together with anyone?”

“Is it that obvious?” Emma had only ever trained alone. At first her dad had hired a trainer but it took her only weeks to beat him in every fight. After that she had trained alone or with her interactive simulation.

“You wanna watch us sparr first?” She nodded her head yes before she sat down with her back leaning against one of the glass walls. As the two heroines started to fight Emma watched their every move. It was fascinating. Wanda never once used her powers but was still a pretty good fighter. But Natasha beat her after a few minutes. Panting she stood over Wanda and helped her get up.

“Okay. You up next. No weapons. No super-powers.” Emma stood up. She knew what rules the Avengers had for sparring. Her dad hated it but once in a while he had to train combat without his suit too. Emma got in position in the middle of the room. At first nothing happened since Emma was well aware of the Black Widow's strength but Natasha had only heard about Emma's fights. She had never seen the teen in action. But nevertheless she threw the first punch. Emma dodged. The two got into it slowly but surely.

Emma and Natasha were too focused on the fight to notice Steve and Bucky on the other side of the glass wall. Wanda just watched the fight. From the outside it looked like a perfectly choreographed fight. Both had to take in a few punches and kicks but the fight didn't seem to stop.

After a while Natasha took Emma by surprise as she grabbed her leg after dodging the kick aimed at her middle and got Emma finally to the ground. Panting both just stood there for a while.

By now Sam had joined the two men on the otherside of the glass. “You want to come in or keep staring from here?” Wanda projected her thoughts in their heads causing the three to break out of their freeze and slowly walk into the room.

“Sorry, we didn't mean to stare...” As Bucky spoke up Natasha and Emma finally noticed the other Avengers.

“But you're amazing, girl! Where'd you learn to fight like that?” Emma finally got up from the ground her breath now somewhat even.

“I don't like sharing my secrets, Wilson...” She walked past him to grab her waterbottle out of her bag.

“She broke your record, Steve.” Natasha mockingly punched the captain's shoulder while walking over to Emma. “Lost your record to a teen, Rogers...damn.”

“You're tough. I thought Clint over exaggerated it...”

“Thanks. You're not bad either.”

“You even broke Steve's record...everybody tried and you beat him in your first try.”

“What record?” Emma let her bottle fall back into her bag before she walked back to Wanda.

“It took Nat the longest to beat him. But you survived longer than him.”

“Really? Doesn't he have that super soldier serum?”

“Yeah. But you're faster and harder to actually hit. He's a bigger target.” Natasha lead her to another area while they talked.

“Makes sense...” On the wall in front of her were weapons on display. A shield like Steve's, Widow Bites, bow and arrows, guns and a lot more. “You think you're warm enough for real training?” Nat grabbed a gun and some Widow Bites before turning to one of the dummies. Wanda went to train her powers while Emma still stood there looking at the weaponry on the wall of the training room. “Need help figuring out what works best for you?” The three men had decided to join the training. “No, thanks.” She walked to the far end of the wall to the more normal weapons. Curious the soldiers watched her as she took a sword out of the shelf. It wasn't too long but still no little butter knife. She walked over to the windows and started to train with the dummie. “Didn't think she'd go with a sword...” Sam started kicking a dummie beside Steve and Bucky.

“You should finish your training for today. Lunch is already on its way.” Everyone stopped in their tracks. “What's for lunch, Fri?”

“Clint ordered. But he asked me to not tell you what he ordered.” Emma already put back her weapons she had trained with. She had grabbed a few others in the middle of the training to switch it up a little. “I don't know about you but I'm starving.” She grabbed her bag on her way out followed by the Avengers. She took the stairs up. Being in an elevator together with five others that just trained for hours wan't exactly something she was keen on. Some followed her up the stairs but some also took the elevator.

Reaching the Avengers floor Emma threw herself onto the couch. Clint was playing Mario Cart against Peter. The Archer nearly jumped off of the couch as Emma landed beside him. “God! Do you have to sneak around like this?!”

“If it scares you, yeah...”

“Hey, Ems.” Peter didn't look up from the screen. But his senses had warned him so he hadn't been surprised.

“What's up, Pete?”

“Just beating Clint at Mario Cart...” Clint was desperately trying to catch up again but Peter had gotten too far ahead while he had calmed down. As Peter finished the race and Clint lost the others came in. Emma had been surprisingly faster than the heroes behind her.

“I would not mess with her, Clint.” He had just turned to face Emma as Natasha interrupted him. “She broke Steve's record. First try.” His eyes widened. “What?! Sam! You owe me 20 bucks!” He yelled in the direction of the elevator as its doors opened. “Oh, come on!”

“Wait. You bet on me?”

“He wouldn't believe me you could fight.” He just shrugged his shoulders before getting up. “I must say. Emma's fighting skills are indeed great. She seems to be able to easily fight against the Avengers.” Vsion entered the room through a wall. “Thanks, Vision. But now what about the food?”

“The food has arrived.” Friday informed them just before Tony walked in with the food. “You guys hungry?”

“Seems like we're eating tacos.” Everyone walked over to the kitchen counter to grab their food before sitting down around the table. While they ate the room was filled with chatter. Peter, Wanda and Emma talked a lot about what's going on all over social media while the adults talked about how they'll include Emma in their trainings. Emma didn't pay much attention to their conversations though.

After lunch the adults stayed on the floor. Wanda and Vision went somewhere on their own while Peter and Emma asked Happy to drive them to New York. They wanted to meet up with Ned and MJ at Peter's. It was the first time Emma was at his but Aunt May greeted her like she had been there a thousand times before. They ended up building a new lego set and watching a movie before Emma went back to the compound.

“What is this?” She gestured to the StarkPad in her hands.

“A schedule for your training.”

“My training? When did I agree to this?” She looked at Steve and Tony.

“Don't look at me. You know I only desgin and pay for everything and make everyone look cool. He's the boss.” Her dad pointed at the super soldier backing out of the situation. He had told the Captain that it was a terrible idea to decide things for her.

“Just because you now know who I am, doesn't mean I want to become an Avenger. No offense. You guys are great. But that is a bit too big for me...I mean I don't even have an alias...” She kept looking at him as she put the tablet on the table between them. Tony was already gone. He had left for the penthouse.

“This is just a suggstion. We don't want to force you to anything you don't want.”

“I'm glad when my mum doesn't ground me. She may said it's fine but actually she's is worried. She can only sleep calm because dad has his armor. I don't have an armor. And I don't want one. I'm fine being just another little hero helping the people of New York.”

Steve began to realise why Tony had warned him. He should have known. “I know. We just think that with a bit more training the chances of getting a cut like the one you got while rescueing us could slim down.”

The display of the tablet was dark now. “I really apreciate it but I'm no Avenger. I mean...I still go to school. And with your little schedule I wouldn't have anytime to go on patrol anymore. Or see friends. Maybe ask me in a few years. But right now I'm glad my mum didn't kill me. So if you don't mind I'm going to bed.” She turned around and walked straight to the elevator leaving Cap behind.  
Walking out of the elevator she already put on her headphones. Her day had been great. Really. But that damned training plan killed the mood. In her room she dropped her bag before laying down on her bed. She got up to chang into more comfy clothes before putting on a movie. Her dad was down in his lab working on something and Pepper had to fix some SI problems. She had already eaten at Peter's so she just got some snacks from the kitchen.

During the next few weeks nothing big happened. Emma went back to patrolling. She sometimes trained with Natasha or Wanda and sometimes even with Peter when the others were out for a mission. On the weekends she often worked a bit in her lab or met Peter, Ned and MJ in New York. Steve didn't ask her about the training again. But they still talked. She sometimes just sat in the common room and played Mario Cart against Clint. He even showed her how to shot an arrow.

It got colder outside as Halloween came closer. The Avengers hosted a little party. Everyone dressed up. The only rule: no heroes. That would have been too easy. Emma dressed up as a zombie cheerleader.

Thanksgiving they had a big dinner together. Wanda, Nat and Emma had helped Pepper cook everything while the boys watched football or something. That evening it felt like they were all just one big family. A strange and unusual one, yeah, but still a great family.

They had even put up the christmas decorations together as the first advent rolled around.

With the colder nights Emma didn't go on patrol that often anymore. She had no heater in her suit like Peter. But she still managed to get out and patrol at least once a week. A nice lady had given her a poncho after she had helped her home once. She wouldn't let Emma leave without it. Often a lot of civilians mistook her and Peter for siblings whenever they were out together.

By now Peter and MJ were somewhat dating. It was cute. As they walked hand in hand through the school the first time Ned and Emma had highfived each other.

It was the last week of school before the christmas break as Emma completely stopped going out on patrol. It was just to cold. Even with the poncho. Without a heater in her suit she felt like a block of ice after a few minutes.  
“Morning, mum.” She walked into the kitchen and started to make herself a hot chocolate. “Morning. You ready for your presentation today?” “That is Thursday...” Emma put a bit whipped cream and a few marshmellows into the cup with her hot chocolate. “Today is Thursday, Emma.”

“Right...god. I really need that break.”

“Two days, honey.”

“I know. Bye, mum.” Already walking over to the elevator she turned once more. “My phone...”

After grabbing her phone from her room she went down to the garage where Happy was already waiting for her. “Sorry, Haps. Forgot my phone. Is it already Thursday?”

“Yep. Tomorrow's last day of school this year.” Emma sipped on her hot chocolate as they made their way to Midtown Tech. “Good luck with your presentation, Ems.”

“Thanks, Haps.” She got out of the car and walked over to Peter, Ned and MJ. “Hey, guys.”

“Did you hear it?”

“Heard what, Ned?” They walked into the building Peter and MJ hand in hand. “'Ninja' wasn't on patrol this week. Pete says he has no clue why. But I think...” He explained to Emma how he thought she doesn't live in New York and went back home for christmas.

“But Ned, it's still nine days 'til christmas...”

“Well, maybe she caught a cold or she is injured or she...” He kept on counting the possiblities while Emma got her books from her locker. “Sorry, Ned, but I gotta go. I have my presentaion today. But we can theorise at lunch...” She wandered off to her homeroom where she would have to present before lunch.

“She should really think of a name. I mean 'Ninja' is cool but not her name.” Ned was back to the young superhero as Emma joined the three sophomores at lunch.

“Maybe she just isn't creative, we don't know.” She sat down beside Ned.

“Now that you're here. What is your theory?”

“Well. Maybe she's just cold. I mean it's freezing outside...” She pulled out her phone.

“Maybe...hey, how was your presentation?”

“Good. Teacher said I should talk a little louder but nothing more...” The four talked a bit more about christmas during lunch. Ned and MJ will be with their families.

“I really hope I get the new lego set. But what about you, Pete?” Right. She would have forgotten if they hadn't talked about christmas. “Pete, dad asked if you and Aunt May wanted to celebrate at ours? You could even stay over 'til new years...”

“That would be awsome, thanks. I'll ask May.” He already pulled out his phone to text his aunt.

With a look at the her phone Emma stood up. “I gotta go.” She went to her next class after getting her books. The rest of the day wasn't anymore exiting.

Happy picked her up as always. She made most of her homework on their way back to the compound while christmas music played quietly in the background.

She spent her afternoon playing Uno with some of the Avengers. Everyone was already in a christmas mood since the fourth advent was this Sunday.

The next morning was not different. Emma got up, got ready and went to school with a hot chocolate in her hands. Only that today was the last day of school this year.

“I swear if any teacher tries to write a pop quiz today I'm out.”

“Same.” Emma met up with her friends like always. They walked into the school side by side. “You got a lab day tomorrow too? I bet the compound looks so cool with all the christmas decorations!” Ned was freaking out about the compound once more.

“Not tomorrw but next week I got a lot of lab days. Maybe you could visit. What do you think, Pete?”

“If Mr Stark's okay with it...”

“Really!? You think I could visit the compound?!” It was kinda funny how much Ned freaked out about it. After all his best friend is Spider-Man and he helps him on a regular basis.

“I can ask him tomorrow...” Their way parted as Emma went to her homeroom.

Throughout the day they mostly watched some christmas movies. At lunch nothing special happened. It was a pretty easy last day of school for the year.

As Emma got home her dad was in his lab. He spent a lot of time down there in the last few months. But he was probably working on the nanotech suit or something like that.

Emma dropped her bag beside her desk in her room before changing into work out clothes. She grabbed a towel and a waterbottle and went to train in the Avengers' gym together with Natasha. By now she was able to beat her on a good day.

As she entered the gym Steve was sparring with Natasha. She won. “Woah!” Emma clapped as Steve hit the ground. “Hey, Emma.” Nat greeted her from above Steve.

“See you found a new sparring partner...”

“Nahh...it's boring when I always win...” Natasha got up and already walked over to the back of the gym.

“How do you beat her? What is your secret?” Steve walked over to Emma.

“I don't know...maybe muscles aren't that important in a fight...” She shrugged. “Did I ever sparr with you? I beat Sam and Bucky won't spar with me but I can't remember if I ever faught you...”

“I don't think we have...”

“You up for another round?” “

'Kay...” He agreed. It looked a bit funny as Emma stood there ready to fight the super soldier nearly double her size.

As always Emma waited for the other one to start. Steve was catious at first but soon went all in.

Emma had trouble punching him but her kicks landed right where she had aimed leading to the super soldier laying on the floor once more after a while. They moved on to the back of the gym and continued to train individually.

After taking a shower and eating dinner Emma put up her favorite christmas movie and got some of her favorite cookies.

She couldn't sleep at first that night. You didn't notice throughout the day but Emma was a bit exited for tomorrow. And a bit scared. Knowing her dad he probably told the others and planned something big even though he knew Emma hated it. That was the one thing the two were the most different.

Tony liked parties but Emma could just stand them. It was even worse if it was a party for her.


	17. Family dinners (but extended...)

Annoyed from not being able to fall asleep again Emma got out of her bed. Anyother Saturday she would have just stayed in bed but she wanted to try out the prototype of her nanotech sword. It had been laying around her lab for nearly three weeks now but school had kept her from trying it out. She didn't even step into her lab in those three weeks.

She put on a simple turtleneck combined with black jeans and some boots. Even though she wasn't planning on going out today. But knowing her dad and the Avengers you never know what the day's gonna bring for you.

“Where are they?...” Her desk really needed to be organized. Pushing her stuff from one side to the other she tried to find her headphones. She finally caught a glimpse of the dark grey headphones after lifting up her books. She put them on and started one of her many playlists before she went to get a snack for breakfast from the kitchen. Considering how late it already was everyone was probably already up and going.

Back in her room with some cookies she cleaned off her desk and sorted everything into the drawers and shelves in her room. Quickly checking her phone she sat down on her bed. Her hair was still in a messy bun threatening to disolve at any moment now. As she jerked her head to face the door it fell down.

“Ever heard of knocking, Pete?! Not everyone has a Spidey-sense...” The teen superhero stood in her doorway looking at her. “Hey, you too...” Rolling her eyes Emma turned back to look at her phone.

“Happy Birthday!” She should have watched him 'cause now he was standing on her bed beside her head. “Thanks!” She quickly got up and hugged him making sure some of the confetti he had thrown into the air got stuck in his hair too.

“Do you know where Mr Stark is?” She jumped down from her bed before answering his question. “I have no clue. Ask Fri...” She turned to grab her tablet from her desk.

“'kay. See ya'!” He left her room to go down to the labs. Usually Tony was down there when you couldn't find him in the penthouse or at meetings.

Emma was already on her way to follow Peter as her phone buzzed. Instead of going to her own lab she changed her plans. Taking the elevator down to the intern labs she asked Friday to get her headphones back to her room or her lab since she didn't need them right now.

“Who blew up something this time?” Already scanning the room she stood in front of the elevator. It wasn't something big but it seemed like someone managed to blow up a circuit board. She quickly walked over to the little group. “So where was the problem?”

It turned out someone had just rewired it wrong. Emma stayed to help them rebuilt their little project before their lunch break anyway.

“You wanny come to lunch with us?” As much as Emma would have liked to stay she couldn't if her sword test would still be today. Checking her phone she had another reason to say no. “Sorry but the boss's asking for me. Maybe next time.” Their paths split at the elevator as the group went down and Emma went up to the penthouse.

“Happy Birthday, honey.” “Happy Birthday, Ems.” Her parents pulled her into a bonecrushing hug. “Thanks. But I can't breathe...”

They pulled back and lead her over to the table. “We'll make a birthday dinner with the others later.”

“Great! Thanks, mum!” They all sat down just as Peter ran into the room. “Sorry. Ned wouldn't hang up. He's on his way. Thanks again Mr Stark for letting him come over.”

“No biggie. Happy needed to pick up your Aunt anyway...now food. I'm starving...” Everyone grabbed one of the sandwiches Pepper had prepared for lunch and sat down around the table.

After everyone finished eating they talked for a bit. Pepper had a meeting this afternoon and Tony soon went back down to his lab but only after he told Emma that presents would follow this evening. As the adults were gone Peter and Emma sat down on the couch watching one of those really old christmas movies.

Other people might want a party or something special on their birthday but Emma didn't like to celebrate it big style. She had always liked the family dinner though. It was one of her favorite traditions. Everytime someone's birthday came up they had a family dinner. And in the last few months the Avengrs had become part of her family, kinda.

“Oh, Ned's here! Imma show him around. Don't finish the movie without me!” Peter jumped up from the couch to go greet Ned in the foyer. Emma would have joined him but the spot on the couch was just too comfy right now. And besides Ned didn't know about Iron Man being her dad.

“Dude, this so crazy! I'm at the Avengers compound! This is so awsome!” Doing their handshake Peter and Ned greeeted each other in the foyer.

“I'm gonna take your bags. See you later, boys.” “Have fun!” Happy and May walked over to the elevator with said bags.

“What do you wanna see first?”

“I can't believe you work here! At least sometimes..but still!” The two boys were still walking around the lab floors after fetching a quick snack in the employee cafeteria. Ned was amazed by everything and he loved the christmas decorations all around the building. Some were pretty obvious but others were really subtle like the background of all the StarkPads or some projections on the glass walls.

They had met some of the top scientists of Stark Industries already but Tony had been up in his private lab.

Soon the two teens reached the new Avengers' memorial. It was pretty similar to the one they had visited at Stark Tower but there were also a few additions. Wanda and Vision had gotten their own exhibits. Wanda had loved Tony's idea to also include a memorial for her brother Pietro. It was basically the same but with all of the Avengers and Spider-Man.

“Hey Pete! Did you see this?! That's me! I'm your guy-in-the-chair!” Exited he pointed one of the little texts at Peter's exhibit.

“I know, Ned. I wrote that.”

“You wrote that?!Thanks, dude!” He hugged Peter tightly still proud of his best friend.

Not everyone had an exhibit in the Avengers' hall (as Ned called it) though. Especially not all non-avengers.

Peter had been on this floor before, a few weeks ago. He had helped to put up everything. There were even some little details on the ceiling. But as he looked down the hall he noticed something new. He pulled away his eyes looked to the new exhibit he hadn't seen here before.

“Where're you going?” Ned caught up still not noticing the addition. How could he. He had never been on this floor before.

“This is new...” He came to a halt right in front of a picture. It seemed to be from some security camera but retouched so you could actually see something in it.

“Awsome...” The person in the middle of the picture had just beaten two muggers. It looked like they wanted to fly away at any moment.

“She's gonna kill him...” He had been talking to himself forgetting Ned for a second.

“This has to be from her first fight! When she faught those muggers. Wait! If she's in the Avengers' hall...is she here? Like Here? Could I meet her with all the others? Dude...this is so cool!”

“Nope. I don't think she's here. And I'm pretty sure she doesn't know about this...” Peter already pulled out his phone but before he could text her Ned noticed something else.

“Her name plate's empty. This is soooo awsome!”

“You like it? Thought it'd be a nice surprise...” Ned and Peter turned around simultaneously.

“Mr Stark! It's so nice to meet you! Thanks for letting me come over, sir!” Tony looked a bit amused by his friend's reaction while Peter was still holding his phone.

“Calm down, Ned. And Tony's fine. I-” “I'm sorry. You got a minute? We'll be right back.” Peter pulled Tony with him a bit away from Ned.

“She's gonna kill you!” He was whispering making sure Ned couldn't hear them.

“Relax, kid. She's gonna be fine with it. And besides, she hasn't seen it yet.” Peter let out a deep sigh just before Ned came over to them.

“Did she really beat the Black Widow in combat?!”

“Yeah.” Peter and Tony answered in unison. Exchanging a quick look Tony started talking again.

“You wanna meet her? She's probably watching Clint lose at Mario Cart again.” Ned just stared at him in disbelief before he could nod his head yes. Ned and Peter had both no clue wether Tony meant Natasha or 'Ninja' as everyone still called her.

“Oh, come on, Wilson! You're cheating!”

“Well, maybe you're just easy to beat!” The controllers were laying on the coffee table while Clint and Sam were arguing and Nat leaned against the kitchen counter watching them as Peter, Ned and Tony entered the room. “Hey, guys!”

“Who's the other kid?”

“Ned. He's my friend from school. And my guy-in-the-chair.” Nat walked over to them while Tony already made hisway back to his lab leaving the teens with the Avengers.

“Nice to meet you, Ned.” She held out her hand at which Ned stared for seconds before being pulled back into reality by Sam and Clint's screaming in the background.

“It's an honour to meet you Miss Black Widow.” He shook her hand hastily.

“Guys! Behave! And come greet Ned!” At that Clint and Sam finally noticed the kid. Quickly waving at him they resumed to sparr on the couch. “I'm sorry. They're worse than babies. And Nat is fine.”

The three sat down at the table and after a minute Ned started to ask her question after question.

Soon Wanda nad Vision joined them and a bit later every Avenger had met Ned.

“You must be Ned. It's nice to meet you.”

“It's nice to meet you too, Misses Potts.” After taking a quick glance at his phone he tapped Peter on his shoulder. “Dude. If I want to still be alive when I'm home I have to go now...” They hadn't realized how late it had been.

“I'll text Happy...” Just as Peter got his phone out Pepper interrupted him.

“Why don't you stay for dinner? I'm mean we were all gonna eat together today and one person more doesn't make a big difference. And I'm sure you're parents will be fine. You could even stay over with Pete if you want. You can't be saver than here sourrounded by heroes. And-”

Ned's face was already lightning up at the thought of staying over at Avengers' compound as Peter interrupted Pepper. “But what about...you know...”

Pepper stopped in her tracks. “He's knows about you being Spider-Man and some other Avengers stuff for sure.” Ned was getting a bit confused. “You can keep a secret, right?” He nodded. “See. And besides she's gonna be happy about him being here.”

“Whatever...”

Emma had enjoyed her free afternoon. Since it had been first day of christmas break she had basically belted christmas songs all day while doing stuff around her room and wrapping some christmas presents.

She loved these afternoons. Nothing that needed to be done. No one there to interrupt her and enough space to dance around without anyone watching. But still from time to time she thought about how Peter and Ned where somewhere in this building without her just because Ned didn't know. But at least she would see everyone at dinner on Avengers' floor.

She didn't bother to look at a clock the whole day. She had nothing planned and someone would go get her when dinner's ready...

“Hey little elf, dinner's ready!” She slid across the floor just wearing socks. Stopping right in front of her dad she took of her headphones. “Great! I'm starving!”

“No need to scare you're old man...” She slid into her boots standing next to the couch before getting into the elevator with her dad.

“Before we get there. We already got a little surprise for you...” The tone of Tony's voice told Emma that he was up to something.

“Dad...what did you do...?” “Just wait and see. And besides it wasn't my idea...”

As the elevator doors slid open Natasha and Wanda caught Emma in a hug immediately. “Happy Birthday, little warrior.” Laughing Emma pulled back. “Thanks.”

Everyone came to hug her and wish her a happy birthday. The last one in the row was Peter to her surprise. He hugged her for a quick second whispering something into her ear. “Hope you can record this...” Confusion written on her face she pulled back.

Before she could react Peter turned her to face the kitchen where Ned was still sitting his back facing the little crowd of heroes. “Are you serious?!”

“Don't look at me. It's Misses Potts' idea...”

Just then Ned turned around. He didn't want to interrupt the heroes so he waited 'til they had finished. Pepper had only told him that they were celebrating a birthday today. She hadn't said who's birthday it was.

“Happy-” He froze in his movement as he saw Emma standing in front of the heroes. “Emma?! But-whta-h-...what...?” Some of the Avengers let out a little chuckle.

“Ehm...surprise...”

After a moment he caught himself again and hugged Emma. “I can't breathe, Ned...” He pulled back at that while the heroes were already sitting down around the big table.

“I didn't know you'd be here! This awsome!” A little helpless Emma looked at Peter.

“He didn't get it...” “Nope...” Peter came to help her. She could really have used a little warning.

“This is better than a movie...” “Shut up, Sam.”

“Wait. I thought you had a normal internship...and how do you know the Avengers...?” Peter lead him to his seat while Emma walked over to her seat between Pepper and Nat.

“She actually has no internship. Like not at all.”

“But how are you here then...?” The two friends sat down next to Tony.

“She lives here. Just like me and the others.” Sam seemed to have had enough and confusion. “She's a Stark. Like litereally. Tin Can Man's her dad and Pepper's her mum. Now can we eat I'm starving!” Everyone looked at him and then back to Ned.

“So...Emma's...Mr Stark's...daughter...” Emma, Tony and Pepper nodded all at the same time. “This day's gettin' crazy!” Ned took it surprisingly good like he had aleady known this secretly or at least suspected it.

“So you're fine with it? Like no questions or anything?”

“This is no big shock. I mean no one knows that Mr Stark has a daughter and you kinda look like him and Miss Potts. And also I'm hungry.”

“Sorry, we're late. Happy told me all about Emma and I was a bit confused. Oh, hey Ned!” May and Happy stepped out of the elevator before quickly making their way over to the two free seats at the table.

“Considering everyone's here now and no one has any questions I'd say let's eat!” Everyone started to fill up their plates with their favorite foods. Pepper had prepared tons of different dishes together with Wanda and Natasha. While eating the room was filled with chatter and some christmas music in the background.

Some already started eating dessert while others were still not finished with their food. But they were used to it since not everyone of them had an enhanced metabolism like Peter or Steve. Everyone was there even Bucky. He wasn't really good with crowds but he seemed relaxed around the Avengers.

Soon everyone had finished dessert leaving nearly no food on the table. Interrupting everyone's little chatters Tony stood up drawing everyone's attention to him. “I think it's time we sing for our birthday girl...on three...” While he sat back down and everyone started to sing. Emma wanted to just melt into a puddle on the floor and dissappear. Her dad knew exactly that she hated it but he did it every year and this year all the Avengers sang along with him leaving Emma blushing sitting in the middle of everyone. As Tony was done with embarrasing his daughter everyone moved to the couch. They had decided to clean everything up tomorrow and just put it in the kitchen.

“I think let's start with presents.” Everyone quickly ran to their rooms while Tony just gave Happy a little signal.

“You didn't have to get me anything! Really!” Everyone had at least a little present for Emma in their hands as they got back.

“It's a tradition. And we're not gonna break it!”

“Yeah. Everyone always gets a little present for each other's birthdays.” Sam sat down on the couch next to Steve and Bucky.

“You can't stop them. Blieve me. I tried...” Peter and Ned both sat down on the floor next to Emma.

“You guys are unbelievebell...” Everyone stood or sat around the coffee table.

“Fri, you know the drill...” Tony stood next to Pepper behind the couch.

”Starting 'Birthday Present Roulette'-Protocol...” The lights were dimmed as the AI started to run an algorithm picking one of the heroes randomly to give their present to Emma first.

“First one is...Steve Rogers...”


	18. Christmas mood (the fourth advent...)

A pile of wrapping paper had formed beside Emma after she had unwrapped her gifts. Some of the heroes had gotten one together like Nat and Clint. They had gotten her tickets for Hamilton on Broadway. Emma was amazed by all the perfect gifts. It was fascinating how close the Avengers and her had gotten in the past few months.

Her dad had upgraded her watch as a gift including some more useful features. It could now connect to her phone and much more. It was a great gift to Emma. He knew exactly that she had stopped wearing her old one because she felt like it was just a tool to call her and it gave Emma the feeling of being called away at any moment. She had had no option to reply to the notifications from the Avengers.

But now she had an option. She could even mute it completely.

Slowly the living room emptied as more and more went to go get some sleep. Peter and Ned went to sleep in Peter's room on this floor. It was personalised to his powers and needs like everyone's room. On the door was a little Spidey logo.

Tony, Pepper and Emma took the elevator up to the penthouse together.

Up in their penthouse Emma fell onto the couch exhausted but happy. She could have fallen asleep right then and there but her dad sat down beside her. “We still got something for you. But-”

“Can that wait 'till tomorrow? I'm...” She interrupted herself with a long yawn.

“'kay. I hadn't had a chance to get it up here anyway. Go catch some sleep...”

Sleepily she said her goodnights before slowly going to her room. She had already slipped out of her boots after dinner.

In her room she managed to change before falling onto her bed. In mere minutes she was fast asleep.

The day had started out relativly normal this morning but then took a few very chaotic turns. But Emma didn't mind. It was great to have her whole family here. Including Ned and aunt May. And all the Avengers. Even though nobody knew where Bruce and Thor were...

Still it had been a great evening. Everyone had laughed and for once there had been no threat that needed their attention right now. It had seemed like their were just a group of friends for one evening but Emma was sure that feeling wouldn't last long. It may be Christmas in a week but that had never stopped any bad guys before.

“Five more minutes...” It was definetly too early as Peter tried to wake Emma up.

“You know that it's about time for lunch, right?” He dropped the blanket in his hands.

“What? Lunch!?” Emma shot up. How could it be noon already?

“And I thought I had a messed up sleep schedule...” He walked out of the room as Ned called him from the living room.

Climbing out of her bed Emma grabbed some clothes and got ready.

“Morning...” She walked past Ned and Peter straight to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. Usually she doesn't drink coffee. But given that she felt just like tweleve hours ago when she had fallen onto her bed she needed the caffeine right now.

“I still can't believe it! Your dad is literally Iron Man! And your mum is his wife! This is so cool.” It seemed like everything had just now reached his mind.

“Yeah..it's cool, it's a secret to the whole world not even Shield knows about and I'm exhausted...”

The two guys had paused their game as Emma sat down next to them on the couch.

“How can you still be tired? You slept like twelve hours straight.”

She looked him dead in the eye. “Not everyone has a super metabolism. And I was cold.” Sipping on her coffee she checked her phone. After a few seconds the two boys went back to their game while Emma drank her coffee.

She got bored quickly after opening up Instagram and went to check her To-Do-list. “Shit.” She jumped up from the couch. How did she forget the one thing she wanted to do yesterday.

She got up placing her still half full cup of coffee on the table.

“Where're you going?”

She looked around searching for something as the boys stopped their game once again.

“First I'm gonna get my boots....I left them down stairs....” She was more talking to herself than answering Peter's question.

She was already in the elevator as Peter opened his mouth to ask her another question but the doors closed before he could say something.

“Morning...” She walked through the living room of the Avengers' floor stopping only as she spotted her boots next to the couch. She put them on before walking out again leaving Sam and Clint puzzled behind.

Getting out of the elevator on the lab floor she walked over to her own lab. She had only been in here in the past few weeks to decorate. School and patrolling had kept her busy.

She quickly grabbed her headphones and started her Christmas playlist. She had wanted to test the prototype for her new gadget. It was basically nanotech that could form all her former gadgets so she would need only one. It also was a sword. The housing was the handle of it powered by a small arc reactor. She also used the blue glow as a design element.

Instead of testing it right away she checked on it. She found a few errors in the code and fixed them right away.

After she couldn't find anymore errors she changed into her suit, grabbed the prototype and went to the bigger lab on the same floor. It had a testing area for weapons and other inventions.

Christmas music still playing she started to test the functions one by one. All the old gadgets worked just perfect. The only thing she had to fix was the connection between the housing and her suit. It seemed to glitch sometimes.

It was already getting dark again outside as Emma finally got to the newly added features. While she was down here testing Peter and Ned were searching for her just a few floors above her. Unaware of that Emma finally got to test the sword. She used it just like she would while training and it passed the test.

Panting she stood in front of a dummie as someone tapped her shoulder. Startled she turned around.

“No need to attack me with a sword...”

She put down her hood and mask before taking off her headphones. “Sorry. Was listening to music...”

Shaking his head slightly he turned around. “Remeber when I told you yesterday that we still had a little present for you?”

She nodded her head yes after thinking for a second. “Yeah. What about it, dad?”

“Actually was just gonna get it but turned out you're already here.” He guided her over to his lab while the two of them talked. “I really like that sword of yours. Looks great.” He asked why she tested it and a few more things about how it works.

“But I think I need to upgrade my suit. It's glitching...”

They walked through the doorway side by side. “I think I can help you there...”

As they entered the lab Emma didn't notice it at first but in the middle of the room between tools and parts of armors stood a pair of boots similar to the ones she was wearing right now.

After her eyes caught sight of them she looked up at her dad.

“I worked on it this whole time. Do you know how difficult it is to include vibranium in that thing? I had to call Shuri for this one...” He gestured to the boots realising it was just them. “Oh, wait...Fri?!”

In front of her eyes the boots seemed to grow into a full suit. Inch by inch it grew until the hood feel onto the back.

In front of her was a suit much like the one she was wearing right now. It was dark blue with some dark icy gray accents here and there. It had thrusters in the plams of the fingerless gloves and underneath the boots. An acr reactor sat in the middle of the chest. It looked like someone had merged her suit and one of her dad's together.

It was an armor. But it was also just a suit like hers.

She stared at it for a good while.

“You wanna try it? I think it'll work just fine with your little sword...”

She turned to her dad jumping onto him to pull him into a bone-chrushing hug. “Thanks, dad! This is the best!”

He was taken aback with the hug. “Ems...you sure you don't have any super powers...”

She pulled away. As she turned back towards the suit she noticed it had retracted into the boots again.

“You wanna try it?”

She grinned at him before grabbing the boots and changing hers for them sitting on one of the desks.

She jumped down to the floor triggering the suit. Slowly the little nanobots flooded around her body forming into the suit she had just seen standing in the middle of her dad's lab. This time the hood and mask didn't fall down. She turned around to face her dad. “It's perfect!”

She grabbed her sword and it immediately connected to the new suit copying its color scheme.

“It smells like a new car in here...”

A chuckle escaped Tony as he watched his daughter.

“It seems like Peter and his friend are searching for you two.” Friday informed them ending the moment.

“I'm gonna go. You need to change...” He walked out of the lab.

Emma followed close behind but instead of joining him in the elevator she turned to walk to her own lab to change.

In her lab she let her suit retract into the boots again before changing into her casual clothes again. But instead of slipping back into her normal boots she put on the ones her father made before waking to the elevator.

By the darkness outside you could think that it was already midnight but it wasn't even time for dinner yet.

As Emma stepped into the penthouse she was greeted by screaming from the couch.

“He cheated!”

“Shut it bird brain!”

Sam, Clint, Peter and Ned were sitting on the couch playing Mario Cart. Clint was losing and Ned was in first place together with Peter.

“Do you need to scream everytime you lose?” She stood in front of the TV.

Peter wasn't bothered by it but the other three had paused the game.

“You were searching for me?” She turned to Peter and Ned.

“Yeah! Ned wanted to see a bit more of the compound but I already showed him everywhere I know...”

“So the labs and Avengers' floor?”

The two teens nodded.

For a moment Emma didn't react going over the blueprints of the facility in her head.

“I know where we could go. But you'll need a jacket...”

She made her way over to her room. Tossing the bag she had brought up from her lap onto her bed she grabbed her coat. Ned and Peter had already grabbed their jackets leaving Sam and Clint behind to play Mario Cart.

They followed her into the elevator. But to Peter's surprise they were going down to the foyer.

As the elevator doors slid open they got out into the crowded lobby. Before Peter could ask Emma where they were going she walked straight through the crowd nearly losing Peter and Ned behind her. She only stopped in front of another elevator to wait for them to catch up.

“We're not in a hurry, aren't we?”

She turned to them as she waited for the elevator to reach their level. “No, but I don't like crowds all that much...”

She lead the two boys through the gyms and some other floors before entering a staircase. By now they had to be on the other side of the building.

“Is there no elevator?” Ned was falling behind a bit but Emma and Peter stopped to wait for him.

“And why do we need jackets?”

Before answering any of their questions Emma pushed open a door behind her. “I haven't shown this to anyone and I don't think the employees have found this yet...” The door was heavy and Emma had to lean against it with all of her weight to push it open.

Behind the steel door a little winter wonderland was revealed. Carefully Emma stepped through the door waiting for the boys to follow her.

“Are we on the roof?”

She just nodded her head yes and stared into the night. In the last few months she had discovered the door leading to the rooftop of the facility. But she hadn't been up here in weeks.

She took a few steps but th6e slipped away. The roof was slippery as ice leaving Emma sitting in the snow. When had it started to snow today?

Peter and Ned sat down beside her.

“This is cool. But also cold.”

“The cold doesn't seem to bother you on your patrols.” She teased him.

Ned was already forming a snowball in his hand while Peter tried to explain to Emma how he had a heater in his suit but not in his normal clothes.

“Why would I we-” A snowball hit his neck before he could finish his scentence.

Emma who had seen Ned sneak up behind Peter bursts into laughter.

“Think it's funny?” Peter grabbed a handful of snow from the roof and threw it right at Emma. She couldn't let that be the end of it.

A snowball match emerged as everyone threw snow at anyone. Peter had a little advantage though. He couldn't slip and fall to the ground because of his stickiness while Emma and Ned landed on the floor several times.

Peter was actually a bit confused to why Emma didn't use her boots but he couldn't ask her. Ned didn't know.

Peter and Ned had teamed up. When that had happened was a riddle to Emma. She only knew that they were chasing her across the roof. Here and there she would slip and fall but she and Ned had gotten used to it by now.

It was still cold outside but the three felt warm from running around chasing each other and throwing snow at them.

At some point Emma just stayed laying on the ground for a bit making a snow angel after falling down. The starry sky above her head was beautiful. The faint smell of christmas cookies setting the mood even more.

She enjoyed every bit of the little moment. And then it was over as Peter threw another snowball at her.

Seeking revenge she got up grabbing snow from the ground. Thanks to her training with Clint and Nat her aim was really good and she didn't miss him this time.

They started to run across the roof again. It was kinda weird that nobody had noticed the three teens running across the glass roof yet.

By now they had reached the other end of the building again but before Ned nad Peter could trap her on the edge Emma ran past them. Taking advantage of the smooth floor she litereally slid trough their arms. Running back to the door Peter and Ned caught up easily.

They were running around the staircase as Peter and Ned trapped Emma on the edge.

She was still running and throwing snowballs at the two boys, all three of them laughing. But Ned's laughter died as he realised how close to the edge they actually were.

Emma didn't see it though. She was looking in the opposite direction.

Trying to stop mid run Emma slipped on another frozen window.

Peter was reaching out to catch her but he could only catch her coat. It fell from her shoulders as she slipped over the edge of the roof.

Her scream silenced by the surprise of falling deeper than expected.

Horror was written all over Ned's face as he saw his friend fall from the roof of the Avengers compound.


	19. christmas patrols (no freezing this time...)

Her thoughts had been far away as she fell to the ground once more. But she didn't hit the floor as she expected. The force of the fall silenced her as she tried to scream in surprise. The only thing she heard was Ned's scream and Peter's cursing. He didn't have his webshooters with him. Expecting to collide with the frozen ground in front of the building Emma closed her eyes.

But nothing happened. The air seemed to stop around her and as she opened her eyes again she knew why. Nearly touching the ground with the tip of her nose she was hovering in the air. The suit must have activated itself and just as she had been about to hit the ground the thrusters had stopped her fall.

“Oh my god! Emma?!” Ned was still shocked.And now confusion joined the fear in his voice. He hadn't heard her hit the ground and since it was dark he couldn't see farther down. Peter was silently panicking beside him.

After calming her breaths Emma landed on the ground. It was the first time she flew in her new suit, kinda. She hadn't felt the suit form around her mid fall and was now a bit shocked by it. Her dad must've put a fall recognition or something as a trigger. Her thoughts wandered of to all the things she didn't know about her suit yet and as if the suit's AI could read her mind, which it probably could, it opened a short list of features on the edge of her vision. Scrolling throughit she got lost in her thoughts.

“What happened?...” Ned was now fully confused. How could someone dissapear in the middle of the air? “I have no clue, man...” Peter slowly got closer to the edge cautiosly. “Wait here...” He stuck to the wall of the building, slowly climbing down. To make sure nobody saw him he looked over his shoulder every few seconds. As it wasn't too far to the ground anymore he flipped off of the wall to land on the ground.

“God! Peter!” Startled she turned around. It was the first time someone saw her in her new suit, except her dad. “I told him the hood would look better wit the fabric illusion...” “You knew he was making a suit for me?”

Of course he knew. He had helped Tony with the designs since he was the one Emma faught the most with. Natasha and Peter knew her fighting probably better than anyother Avenger since they always trained together. Tony had asked both of them to help him with the designs. He later also asked Shuri, Princess of Wakanda, for help with the vibranium.

“Yeah. How do you think did he know that you like to fight in boots with heels?” There were so many little details Tony had made sure about. “He's crazy...” Peter just shrugged 'cause if you're being honest who of their group of friends including the Avengers was still completely sane? “I think we should get back to Ned. He's still on the roof...”

“Right...” Emma got ready to fly while Peter had already started to climb up the building again. He was almost at the top as Emma flew past him a bit too fast to stop at the right height.

“Did you see that? Something just flew up into the sky right here!” Peter was standing beside Ned and before he could react to his question Emma landed behind his friend. “Wait. What about Emma? Did you find her? Where is she then?”

“Right behind you.”

“Gosh! You scared me!” He pulled her into a quick hug before the whole situation reached his mind. “Wait. How did you get here so fast?”

Ignoring Ned's question Emma walked past him. The steel door was still open. “I think we should get dinner, i'm starving...” Already making her way down stairs she left the two boys standing on the roof.

“What was that?” Peter caught up to her easily.

“Ned doesn't know about this. And nothing against him but I'd like to keep it that way...” Ned soon joined them.

As they got back to the penthouse nobody questioned where they had been or what they'd done. Everyone else had already eaten dinner so Ned, Peter and Emma ate alone.

While eating they watched some Christmas episodes of their favorite shows.

“Ned? Need a ride home?” Happy and May walked in just as the three teeens finished their dinner.

“Right. Wait, I'll get my bag!” He rushed over to the couch to grab his bag before joining Happy in the elevator.

“Happy Christmas, Ned!”

“Happy Christmas, y'all!”

“So you guys had fun sneaking around the compound?” May sat down at the table after Emma had told her she didn't need to help her put the dishes away.

“We weren't exactly sneaking around...but yeah it was kinda fun.” Emma sat back down at the table.

“And then we had her in the corner-” “and litereally swept me off my feet...” All of them laughed while Peter and Emma told May about their little snowball match, leaving out the fact that they had been on the roof the whole time.

The three of them soon moved over to the couch. With hot chocolate and some cookies they watched a christmas movie together. Pepper, Tony and Happy joined them when they came into the penthouse. Everyone was snuggeling under weightened blankets.

The adults got up as the end credits filled the screen but Peter and Emma didn't move. They had fallen asleep on the couch between the cussions and blankets. The exhaustion from the match on the rooftop had caught up to them and knocked them out cold. They left them laying there. It looked comfy and besides they would probably wake up as soon as they'd move the blankets or pillows.

As Peter woke up he had no clue where he was. But as he saw Emma slowly waking up on the other side of the couch he calmed down. They had watched a movie last night. He must've fallen asleep before it had ended.

“Morning...” slowly Emma pushed the blankets off of herself before emerging from the stack of pillows she had slept in.

“Morning...” He was already getting up from the couch to get something to eat. That was one of the things that got really annoying sometimes when having a super metabolism. “Want something for breakfast?”

After a long yawn and stretch Emma reminded him that she wasn't the person to eat breakfast in the morning. She still got up though.

“You're weird...” He made himself a sandwich for breakfast. But just as he was cutting it in half a pillow hit him.

“If one of us is weird it defintely will be the one with spider powers...”

He picked up the pillow and threw it in her direction but she was faster. It only hit the closed door of her room. “Learning spanish with a Russian spy is totally normal then?!”

“At least I don't fail spanish!” She shouted from her room. In her room she changed and got ready. But since they were on Christmas break right now she had nothing planned for today. She grabbed her phone before turning around once more on her way back to the living room. She quickly slid into her boots. Just as she was about to push down the handle of the door to her room Peter opened it from the other side.

“You want to patrol today? Your suit got a heater now...” He was already in his suit ready to get to New York and be their friendly neiborhood Spider-Man.

“Really?” Peter just noded his head yes. He knew that Tony had included a heater just like he had in Peter's suit. Also it was nearly noon by now and the others probably had stuff to do.

Emma rushed past him and grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen from the kitchen counter. “I'll just leave a note...” She scribbled a quick message on the piece of paper before sticking it to the fridge. “Mum would be furious if we won't leave a note...”

Peter was already in the elevator as Emma joined him. “And what about your suit?” As the doors slowly slid close she let it from from her boots. “But something's still missing...you can go ahead though. I'll find you...” The suit retracted into her boots before he walked out of the elevator on the lab floor.

While Peter already started to swing to New York, Emma rushed to her lab to grab her sword. Instead of walking down to the lobby she just walked onto the bacony of the big lab. It was cold but as the suit formed around her its heater was already working. Gladly her suit was interactive. After securing her sword on her thigh she flew into the sky. Scanning for Peter she stopped mid air.

As soon as she saw him Emma flew a little lower while catching up with him. “Hey there, spidey.”

He nearly missed as Emma stratled him. “Gosh! Ems!”

She slowed down a bit to fly beside him. “You now I should really get an alias...don't want you exposing my identity on accident...”

They landed on a roof at the edge of Queens. “You really should. I mean 'Ninja' is cool but not really fitting.”

They sat on the edge of the roof for a bit. “Iron girl? Or Iron Woman?...”

She looked at him. “That sounds like I'm someone's sidekick.”

Peter got out his phone. “Ned had some cool ideas the other day...” He started scrolling through their chat but before he could find something they heard sirens.

“Really? Two sirens at once?” Emma already got up.

“I'll take Brooklyn.”

“'kay I'll cover Queens...”

Emma flew up and over to Brooklyn while Peter started to follow the sound of sirens in Queens.

“I got a robbery. What about you?” Emma was sneaking into the bank while speaking with Peter over the comms. “Police race.”

She muted herself as she saw the robbers. As naughty as it was to rob a bank at least they wore Santa costumes.

“You know I'm a bit confused. I thought there was only one Santa.” The robbers turned around surprised. Two of the three had bags full of cash in their hands but the third one was already aiming his gun at her.

“I thought you knew by now what I think about guns.” She walked past the two holding the money. Only as the gun nearly touched her suit she stopped. “I'm not very fond of them.” With a quick move his gun laid in the far corner of the room.

His teammates attacked her from behind. But their fighting wasn't very good. They were soon on the ground.

As one of them wanted to get up again Emma simply grabbed her sword to fire some webs at them.

Just as the third one somehow managed to sneak up behind her the police finally arrived. They were greated with a person carshing into the wall next to the door. “What the hell...?”

Emma walked up to them from the other side of the room. “I don't think they're real Santas...”

The police men looked at her in confusion. None of them had expected to be greated with a flying thief and vigilante.

“And I though Brooklyn would be a bit calmer....” He walked up to Emma. “Thanks. But you're webs don't dissolve like Spidey's...could you maybe...”

Emma knew the police man. He had been in Queens before. He once had shared a donut with Peter. Without another word Emma walked over to the first one. “I'm sorry 'bout that one. He was a bit tough...” She pointed at the one slumped against the wall on the other side of the room.

“Don't stress it...” He already got handcuffs in his hand.

After actvating her sword's blade she cut through the webs. As soon as the robber was free he was hand cuffed and lead out of the bank by one of the police men. The third one had already been picked up and carried away.

As the police wrapped up everything a woman walked up to Emma. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome. And besides your work is incredible. It's not your fault the bad guys act up during Christmas season...” Emma already wanted to leave as the woman spoke up once again. “It's great to have more female heroes our daughters can look up to. I mean it's great that we have heroes ingerneral but I feel like we could really need some great heroines too...”

Emma turned around once more. “I'll do what I can...” She walked away to go meet Peter again.

“You're new suit looks awsome by the way!” Emma chuckled beneath her mask before flying up into the sky once more.

That woman was right, she thought. We also need heroines beside the super heroes. Just like we need more representation in the media we need it amongst our heroes. How can someone you can't relate to be your idol?

As Emma found Peter helping an old couple with their groceries I flew down to help him. He would've never admitted it but he was struggeling with all those bags.

“Let me help you with that.” She grabbed the ones stacked on top before carefully landing beside him.

“Oh, you're too kind, sweetheart.” The woman saw Emma first.

“It's no problem. You can never be too kind...” The four walked side by side to the couple's apartement in Queens.

“It's so nice to know that there are people looking out for us.” They put down the bag in the living room of the sweet couple.

“We're just looking out for the people, trying to make a difference...” The little apartement was beautifully decorated for Christmas and before Peter and Emma could head out the old woman had them sit down on the couch and eat some cookies.

“Thank you again, Spider-Man and...” The old man was starting to unpack the bags while he tried to remember Emma's name. “I'm sorry. I must've forgotten your name...” He was desperatly trying to recall what the man on the news had called her.

“It's fine. Actually I haven't decided what I'd like to be called yet.” Peter was still eating the cookies happily while Emma talked a bit with the couple. She didn't want to put down her mask.

“It should be something badass. I saw one of your fights in TV. No sweet little girl but I'm glad to see more girl power on the news...” Peter had nearly choked on his cookie at the woman's comment.

“Thanks for the cookies!” Peter and Emma were heading out once again. There had been a car crash and some people were stuck in their vehicles.

“Thank god you're here Spidey! The fire fighters have trouble getting through the traffic!” Some civilians and police men were already showing where some people were stuck.

“I thought you said 'just a little car crash'?!” Peter and Emma landed in front of the first car. The driver was still in there.

“Can you cut it open? I'll get him out.” Emma flew to the other side of the car while Peter tried to calm the driver down a bit.

“No need to cut. The doors already torn apart.” She simply yanked the door out of the side of the vehicle so Peter had better access to the the driver.

After they got the first one out they pulled about six others out of their cars or trucks. Everytime they didn't need to cut anything. Sometimes the doors needed to be yanked out of their hinges or a window that somehow wasn't broken had to be removed.

After that the fire fighters finally arrived and took over. Peter and emma helped whenever they were asked because they didn't want to slow down the work or anything. They soon had almost everyone out of the cars. Almost. There was still a kid stuck in a car. It was about in the middle of the row of crashed cars and trucks. It was stuck in the backseat and the firefighters couldn't get it out.

“You guys have an idea how we can get that kid out of there?! Quickly?!” One of the fire fighters ran over to the two and before he even reached the two heroes they already rushed towards the car he had come from.

At the car the men were discussing about cutting open the car.

“But if we cut through the top, it'll fall down.” “But any otherway we would be to slow.”

“Excuse me!” Peter and Emma rushed to the car. “What's the problem?”

They explained how the car had been shquashed between two trucks and it was now fragile so as soon as they'd cut it, it could crush the kid.

“So basically your saws are too slow?”

They nodded.

“You'll cut it and I'll get the kid out.” Peter and Emma were already walking over to the car and getting ready.

“You won't be fast enough to cut it!” Emma turned around to him.

“With your saws, yeah." She put the saw laying on the floor aside. “But who said I'll use your saw...” She grabbed her sword and opened the blade a little sharper than usual.

“I'm ready.” Emma turned around and quickly cut out the side of the car. Peter quickly grabbed the kid before the truck behind the car crept a few inches forward squashing the car a bit more.

“Jamie!” A woman came running and picked p her son from Peter. “Thank you so, so much! Both of you.” she ran abck to an ambulance with her child. “That was so cool!” A younger fire fighter walked over to Peter and Emma. “Thank you, Spidey and ...”

“Don't stress it. Don't have a hero-name yet...”

Peter and Emma walked back to one of the fire fighters trucks. While Peters suit was full of dust Emma had oil and other things from all the cars all over her hands and face.

“Let's go, I could really need a shower after this one...” Emma shot into the air and Peter simply shot a web at her. She stopped mid air over the highway.

“What? Not everyone can fly...”


	20. little trip to the city (at least kinda normal...)

“New York's New Heroine is still without a name. But nevertheless Spider-Man and her are back on patrols before Christmas...”

His suit laid on the ground by the door while he sat on the couch in his training clothes. He was speaking with Ned over the phone while the news were playing in the background. Ned was with his family just like MJ while Peter and Emma stayed at the Avengers compound over the holidays.

On the phone Peter and Ned were discussing about superheroe-names for Emma while she was taking a quick shower to clean off the dirt from the car wrecks.

After she got out of the steaming hot shower she threw on some clothes before joining Peter in the living room of the Starks' penthouse. “Put him on speaker, Pete...” She jumped onto the couch next to Peter.

“-or something with Iron in it.”

“Hey, Ned. What's up?”

“Oh, hey, Ems. We're just trying to come up with an alias for 'Ninja'. Even the guy from the news thinks it's about time she get one!”

Rolling her eyes she got up from the couch. “I'll leave you two brains alone with that one. Why does everyone even care about a name? I mean I would just be happy to be saved by anyone...” She made her way across the room to the elevator. “Imma go to the city. Need anything?”

Peter had focused on his and Ned's call again. “We just were in the city...”

“But not to go shopping...” She grabbed her keys while she waited for Peter to answer properly.

“Could you get me one of those thingys...the ones they got Avengers Editions of...?”

She looked him dead in the eye. “They have Avengers Editions of nearly everything. You have to be more specific.”

“Forget it. Bye. Don't let yourself get kidnapped!”

She should have never told him about that. Holding up her middle finger she glared at him as the elevator doors closed.

“Should I call Happy to drive you?”

“No, thanks. I'll just take one of the self driving cars...” She got out in the garage. As Friday started the automatically driving vehicles Emma thought about calling Happy for a quick second but threw that thought right out of the window. She was just going Christmas shopping. But the cars weren't exactly blending in.

“I'll take the black one...” She walked towards a black car in the back. It had the biggest trunk. But it was a Landrover. So not exactly often seen in cities like New York.

She got in, throwing her bag on the drivers seat. “Welcome, Emma. Where would you like to go today?” Every car had its own little AI.

“Just to the mall...” A map opened on the front widow. The malls were marked with red dots. She selected the one she wanted to go to first. Slowly the car drove out of the garage before picking up speed as it was on the road towards the city.

With hands full of bags Emma walked back towards her car. Galdly she had gotten everything that'd she had forgotten before.

The trunk already opened as she aproached the car. Emma put all the bags in it before closing it. But before she walked to get in the car she waited a second. She thought she had heard steps behind her but she couldn't see anything. “Okay...”

She looked around once more before getting in the car. “Lock the doors. Scan the area.” For once Emma was glad her dad was a bit paranoid and overprotective.

The only thing Emma heard was her own breath. It felt like an eternity 'til the scan was complete.

“Someone seems to be hiding behind one of the cars. They're looking in your direction.” Emma tossed her bag onto the backseat after getting out her sword. She had somehow managed to forget her phone but not her sword.

“Start driving but not home.” The car started as if everything was normal and Emma wasn't being followed.

It was about five minutes atfer Emma had gotten out of the mall and the car had started to drive around New York as Peter tried to call her. He and Nat were about to go out on a little mission. Fury had found suspicious activities that had risen in the last hours.

Clint and Sam were already there but they hadn't found anything yet. Fury was sure the group would attack very soon and after seeing their activities rising in New York he wanted the heroes there to prevent any big damages.

He even asked for Emma's help but Peter couldn't reach her. Her phone was laying in her room while she was at the mall.

“They seem to follow you. Do you want me to inform Mr Stark?” The grip around her sword tightened as the kept looking in the rare view mirror. “No. Can you connect to my phone?”

“I'll need your password.” Emma unlocked her phone. As she saw the missed calls from Peter and Nat she knew something was up. But right now she couldn't go anywhere and they hadn't left her messages.

“Drive onto the highway. And try to count how many of them there are.” Normally she avoided the highway but in this specific situation she just wanted to get away as soon as possible. “The vehicles block my scans. But it appears there are at least three cars of them behind you and one in front of you at the moment.”

They finally had a more specific lead. They were on th highway right now, at least two cars. Clint and Nat were guessing it was the gang that had captured them in summer. They probably wanted revenge.

“But if they wanted revenge...why would they just attack New York randomly?” Peter was swinging over the highway while Nat and Clint were on the ground. Sam was scanning the city for potential targets of the group.

It was already dark which did not make things any easier. Emma had connected her suit's AI to the car now to get better control over it. “I found two more cars from the group in front of you.”

“Looks like seven cars from here. Three in the front and back. One in the middle.” Nat and Clint followed the cars with a little distance.

The highway was somehow clearing. It felt as if everyone knew something was wrong on this road.

Nat and Clint slowed down a bit while Peter and Sam were still following the cars. “They're getting closer together...” The three in the front were slowing down while the ones in the back sped up a bit.

“They're getting closer...”

“I can see that.” Emma kept looking around. How could no one notice this?

“Get ready. They're probably now getting in formation for whatever they're doing...” Sam was still flying high above the city. Nat and Clint slowly got closer to the group of black cars.

“Now I'm starting to take this personal...” The cars seemed to have locked into place. Emma was starting to panic a bit. She forgets her phone once. Once. And immediately a group of creepy bad guys somehow found her.

“Hello there...” The voice coming out of the car's speakers did not belong to an AI.

“What is going on...” Peter was still swinging along the road.

“I think we could use a little back-up. Someone call Ems. I still can't reach her.”

Even though Peter knew he wouldn't reach her he tried.

The speakers died together with Emma's control over the vehicle.

“Loser #1 is calling.” Emma looked up from the console. “Peter...? Pick up.”

“Oh, you're home. Great. We need you. Seven cars of a group. They're probably going to attack tonight. I'm send you my location.”

Before Emma could answer a map opened next to her phone screen. Peter was on the same highway as her.

“Got it?”

“Yeah. But Peter I'm-” The call got cut of before Emma could end her scentence.

“Emma? Ems?!” He stopped on a roof for a brief moment. “The call cut off. But she got the location.”

He continued to follow the cars. “What the heck? It looks like they're trying to get into the car in the middle.” The two spies were still a bit behind. “Can you scan it.” For a moment it was silent over the comms.

“All cars block my scans but the middle one is one from Stark Industries...”

Mid swing a horrible thought dawned Peter.

“That gang really hates us.” Emma didn't hbe to be home, she could also have been in her car. You could connect your phone to the auto-driven ones. Even when you don't have it with you. Tony had once told him about it.

Emma had wanted to tell him something but the call ended. Maybe they had somehow blocked all systems of the car.

“We're at them. Sam attack the one in the middle. If it's Tony's tech it's dangerous in their hands.”

“Stop!” Peter pulled Sam away from the car with a web.

“What the heck, Spidey?!”

“What're you doing Peter?”

“You said they want revenge. Who of us was the one to wreck their plans completely?”

“What...”

“Just think about it. The car's from SI.”

“What has that to do with you and Emma and these bad guys.”

“Emma forget her phone at home. But you can connect your phone with the auto-pilot cars from Tony.”

“Get to the point, kid. We can't look into your brain.” They were still following the cars. The gang members were struggeling to get into the car in the middle.

“Emma's in the car! They want her!”

At least the locks still worked. Her suit's AI had reconnected to her phone but she couldn't reach Peter. Or anyone. Emma turned around to look behind her but from all sides they tried to get into the car.

“Pick up, pick up...” While she was trying to reach Vision the window next to her cracked. “Shit.” She stared at the little crack, holding her breath.

“Oh, hey, Ems. Did you watch the last episode?”

Nothing seemed to work the way she wanted right now. Somehow her AI picked up Ned's video call.

“Is everything alright? You look a little pale...”

Another crack in the glass. “Not the best time Ned...”

He kept talking anyway but with every kick and punch against the glass more and more cracks crept to the edges of the window. “Ned! Stop it!”

Ned now noticed the background noises too. “Are you being attacked?”

“I'll call you later!” Emma tried to hang up but the glass finally broke and a hand grabbed her hair as she tried to get onto the drivers seat. The one day she wore a low ponytail someone attacked her.

“How do we help her then?”

“We need to get her out of that car. I don't know if she got her suit.” They tried to find a way to get Emma out of there while still following the bunch of black cars.

Her head was yanked back. In a matter of seconds her suit fromed around her but he still had her. As beautiful as long hair was it's not great to be pulled around with it.

“Your new suit won't help you.”

She pulled as far away as she could.

“You sure?” The blade of her sword rose from the little handle in her hand.

With a quick motion she cut a hole into the roof above her before flying through and leaving the man behind with her ponytail in his hands.

Right in front of her Emma jumped through the roof of the car. She landed on it effortlessly. Her hair was flying in the wind before she put on her hood.

“When'd she get a new suit? Looks great.” Natasha drove beside one of the cars now and before they realized it she jumped onto their roof. With aquick jump she was back to back with Emma.

“Thought maybe you'd like a little company up here.”

Emma logged into their comm channel. “What is their problem?”

“They're the ones from this summer. They want revenge 'cause we ruined their plan and set the others free. Seems like they hate you especially.”

Sam got down too. He was flying next to a car on the right and before they could react he shot their tires. Another car crashed into it but the others kept moving.

“Fury was right. Revenge.” Clint was leaning out of a car behind them aiming at one of the cars.

Before they could do more Emma spotted the truck blocking the whole street infront of them.

“Ehm...guys! We're not slowing down. And that truck is not moving!”

This gang really meant go big or go home. The cars crashed into the truck without anyone touching the brakes. Peter caught Nat in a web in mid air but Emma had been pushed down by the force of the crash.

Everyone landed right behind the bunch of cars on the highway.

The bad guys ran out of their cars leaving those behind that were either too injured or stuck, without any hestitaion.

Peter webbed up as many as he could while Nat and Clint took others out with their weapons.

Sam was scanning form above once again.

The fight started as the heroes got closer to the cars. Sam had to get down to help but it still seemed to be a close call.

Emma was still somewhere between the cars.

Some more of the bad guys got out of the cars after breaking free. Above the heroes the first news helicopters hovered. But still no sign of Emma.

They really should have brought more back-up. Nat and Clint were fighting back-to-back while Peter was busy webbing up others.

“Still no sign of that little fight machine. We kinda need her right now.”

Slowly but surely more and more members of the gang were either webbed up or knocked out cold on the asphalt. But just as they thought it was getting easier the cars caught fire.

The flames crawled around the fight along oil that had spilled across the highway, trapping the hereoes as well as the gang in a cicrle of flames.

With a loud explosion one of the car's doors flew arcoss the street hitting a few of the bad guys and knocking them down to the floor.

Emma crawled out of the car pulling a body with her. The man seemed to still be alive but severly injured. Someone tried to attack Emma from the side but she was faster with her sword.

“I hate car crashes.” She ran over to help Peter.

While they faught the firefighters arrived and started to take out the flames surrounding the heroes.

After a while the gang memebers as well as the heroes struggled to fight in the heat of the fire. While most of the bad guys were finally out of the fight the last remaining ones got weaker the longer they activly faoght against the hereoes.

Peter and Emma were the only ones not affected by the heat. Their suits not only had heaters but also a cooling system.

As the last bad guys hit the ground Emma grabbed Nat and Clint and flew out of the flames. Peter grabbed Sam.

While the three Avengers cooled down Peter and Emma helped the firefighters and as it turned out, Emma's mock web fluid was able to take out the flames.

As the fire was out and the heroes were back to full strength the reporters got through. Before they could ask any questions Clint, Natasha and Sam shielded Peter and Emma.

“Who was this?”

“Is our new hero an Avenger?”

Everyone talked all at once which resulted in no one understanding anything.

Instead of answering the Russian spy waited for a quiet moment. As it didn't seem to come she exchanged looks with Sam and Clint.

Sam subtly grabbed the two spies before unfolding his wings to fly up into the sky. Emma understood and started to hoover over the floor. Peter shot a web at her just before they shot up into the sky, leaving the reporters and camera teams on the highway.

They landed on a roof at the edge of the city.

“That was a close call. Thanks for getting us out of the heat, Ems.”

“Thanks for fighting that gang. By the way why were you even there? And how'd you know I was in that car?”

They explained how Fury had monitored the group for the last months and the clues that had lead to the conclusion that she'd be in the car.

“And what are we gonna do about the press? I mean this wasn't exactly small or subtle.” Peter and Emma had no clue how these things were handled since they never really had to deal with the press. Especially Emma since she was the youngest hero.

“We're gonna do a press conference tomorrow.”

Clint had called a Quinjet. He was already sitting down in the pilotes seat while Sam and Nat sat down on the floor.

“You better think about a name 'til then.”

Emma leaned against the wall, sliding to the ground against it.

“You know..Ned and I got a whole list with ideas...”

She turned to look at him.

“What'd you got?”


	21. questions and answers (the birth of a new hero...)

The whole flight back to the compound Emma didn't deactivated her suit. She just sat on the floor of the Quinjet next to Peter who was showing her his and Ned's list of name ideas for her. After they landed safely Tony was already waiting for them. As Emma got out of the jet he immediately rushed forward to pull her into a hug. Peter walked by but Tony pulled him into the hug aswell.

“You kids are crazy...”

All of them walked back to the Avengers floor. Nat, Clint, Sam and Peter dissapeared into their rooms while Emma fell onto the couch next to her dad.  
They talked for a bit about the gang and how they must've tracked the avengers to find Emma.

“At least they're now in jail...”

“Yeah...I'll go take a quick shower. The cooler was great but fire's still hot....”

Emma did as she said. Still in her suit she took the elevator up and went to her room. They all had been too concentrated on the fight or on everyone's wellbeing even Emma herself. But now out of her suit she saw the full extend of the whole fight. While she had escaped from the car she had had to cut her hair. The man's grip had been to tight and she had run out of time any moment.

At least her hair tie had been a perfect line to cut along. Not a single strand of her hair seemed to be too long or too short. Being honest she had needed a hair cut anyway. Just not from rapunzel to a bit longer than chin length. She turned on the shower for the second time today.

Out of the shower she grabbed some sweat pants and one fo her dad's old hoodies she had snatched from him. On her way back down to the others she put on her hood. It's not that she was scared of their reactions but she had told no one how she had gotten out of that car in the first place. Everyone was already sitting on the couch when she stepped into the room.

“Good you're here. We were just talking about the press conference tomorrow. Y'know about that whole fight on the highway...”

Emma sat down between Nat and Peter.

“Everyone of us' gonna be there. But you and Peter don't have to say anything if you don't want to.”

They kept discussing who'll say what and how they'll convince the people that Emma and Peter are not part of the Avengers team. Even during dinner they stayed there and kept on preparing the press conference.

Emma and Peter felt rather bored so they talked via text together with Ned. Again about a hero-name for her only that Ned had no idea the name was for Emma. They had a lot of ideas but still Emma couldn't find one she could identify herself with. It was much more difficult than they had had thought it would be.

While texting Emma had blended out her surroundings. She was reminded of them as Nat tapped her on her shoulder. “What?”

“You got an alias?”

“Working on it. Do Peter and I really have to sit here while you guys prepare everything? It's not like we're gonna say anything tomorrow anyway...”

Tony knew exactly that Emma hated to just sit around while others were talking around her or even about her as if she wasn't sitting right next to them.

“You're right, hoodie thief. You can go up to the penthouse if you want...”

Peter and Emma jumped up from the couch and walked over to the elevator.

Back in the penthouse Peter and Emma face timed Ned to get more ideas. But they soon drifted off to other subjects.

Eventually Peter and Emma fell asleep while watching a movie. By now Pepper and Tomy weren't surprised to find the two teens sleeping on the couch.

As Pepper and Tony walked into the penthouse they simply turned off the TV.

As Peter and Emma woke up the next morning Pepper and Tony were already up and going about their day. Peter went down to his room to call Ned. They were working on something like always. Emma went back to her room aswell to get changed. She got a little snack from the kitchen as a sorta breakfast.

The press conference was set for this afternoon and the press was already full of it. Thef irst thing on the news was the announcement of it nad everyone on the internet kept specultaing about what may be announced and what had actually happened on the highway just the day before.

Emma tried to come up with an alias for the rest of the morning but gave up around noon. After making herself some noodles for lunch she decided to read a book. On social media everyone was just talking about the upcoming press conference and there wasn't enough time until it started for a whole movie. The whole afternoon everyone was busy preparing the conference while Peter and Emma stayed in their rooms. They ddin't want to stand in anyone's way.

'Press starts in 10'

The notification lit up on her phone screen. Her dad and the others were getting ready. By now a lot of reporters and camera teams were already here.

'Don't forget your suit. You still got an secret identity'

Right. Emma turned around on her way to the elevator to put on her boots. On her way through the living room she grabbed a cookie from the kitchen counter. In the elevator she activated her suit after she was reminded of just how short her hair was now.

“Tony and Clint are already with the press people.”

Natasha and Sam weren't in their suits unlike Peter and Emma since they had no secret identities to hide behind masks. The two Avengers were calmer about the whole thing but considering that this wasn't their first press conference it was no big surprise.

“If we want to be on time we should get going. There you are, Emma!”

Just as Emma wanted to get out of the elevator Nat, Sam and Peter got in.

“You're right on time, girl. We're on our way to the press conference.”

No one talked until they stepped into the hallway.

“If you don't want to answer one of their questions give us a sign, okay?”

Peter and Emma nodded.

“And don't worry about the cameras.”

The four walked along the hallway Peter and Emma in the middle. Aprubtly the Russian spy stopped as well as Sam.

“I would remind you to put on a smile but...they won't see it 'cauuse of your masks...okay. Ready?” Peter could hear Emma's heart beating rapidly in her chest. He was just as nervous as he had been when going to Germany with Tony. Both took a deep breath before nodding. “Let's do this!”

Tony and Clint were standing on a little stage, already trying to calm down the people in the room. As the four heroes walked in reporters yelled questions all at the same time and tried to get as close to the young heroes as possible.

They only walked up the few stairs to stand behind the billionaire and the archer.

“Calm down, guys! Please! This way no question can be answered!” Clint tried to get the crowd to calm down but it didn't work.

He glanced at Tony who just cleared his throat. Nearly immediately the room fell silent.

“If anything happens there's a door behind Sam hidden in the wall.” Natasha whispered just loud enough for Peter and Emma to hear.

“Thank you all for coming! We understand that the incident on the highway yesterday brought up a lot of questions. And in order to only answer them once we thought this might be a good compromise.”

Tony had only seen pictures of the battlefield and not many details about the fight, so Clint was the one to briefly inform everyone of the circumstances of the fight. Usually Tony or Steve would have this part.

“The gang was caught and is therefore no current threat to anyone.” After he was finished the first arms shot into the air. The whole thing was just like holding a presentation in school. You say what you know and the crowd ask more questions you better answer to get a higher score.

“It seemed like the group had targeted the person in the car. Do you know who it was?”

Tony was sitting on a stool at the edge of the little stage while the heroes were standing around two microphones.

“Yes. But we can assure they are safe and mostly unharmed.”

Peter was playing with the microphone in his hands while the three Avengers answered the first few questions.

“How come Spider-Man and our new vigilante were at the scene?”

Natasha grabbed the mic out of Sam's hand. “We called them to help us since they know the streets and criminals of New York better than us. They know where they would go and which parts of the city they wouldn't cross.”

Everyone scribbled down some notes. Next Sam pointed at a journalist with a green tie.

“A question for 'Ninja'. Why have you been absent on patrol and why did you decide to patrol during the day for the frirst time?”

Peter and Emma both looked questioning at the three Avengers. Nat gave her a reassuring smile before Peter gave her the mic. Before speaking the swallowed the panic that was trying to get to her.

“Well, first of all I'm not 'Ninja' and uhh...my former suit was thinner than my new one and it wasn't very warm outside. It was simply too cold for me outside.” Everyone stared at her. “ And as some channels pointed out before I'm no adult. I had school before.” She quickly passed the mic to Peter.

The next questions were mostly for Peter and Emma. But Sam, Clint and Nat had to politly turn down a few of those questions.

After a while the five heroes sat down. “Spidey and 'Ninja', how come you're patrolling together more ofte recently?”

Emma passed the microphone to Peter. “Ehm...I guess it's just because I offered to show her the ropes...”

Before they could pick the next one a man stood up in the back and asked the next question. “I'm sorry, but you said 'Ninja' was not the name you'd like to be called earlier today. What would you like us to call you?”

At this question not only the crowd in front of the stage but also the heroes on stage turned to Emma. Great. The one question she knew would come and yet the only question feared a bit.

“First of all: thanks for asking. Ehm..honestly this is something I've been thinking about for the past few days. I even talked about it with my friends.” Everyone in the room chuckled a bit. “One of them has a whole list of ideas...you'd be surprised how difficult it is to chose an alias. But anyway I decided that from now on I am Blue Moon.”

It was the perfect name for her. Most parts of her armor as well as her suit were blue or icy grey. The glow of the arc reactor had always reminded her of the moon. Besides for as long as she think she had always been fascinated by the night sky. She would sit outside watching the stars 'til she fell asleep eventually. And that was exactly what she told the next reporter after he asked why she had chosen this name.

A few other questions to the group followed before Tony and Nat stood up and thanked everyone for coming and asking questions. The heroes left he room while the first camera teams packed up their stuff.

Out of the room Peter took off his mask immediately after making sure he was out of sight of the press.

“I never thought there could be so many questions about one single fight...”

Everyone was making their way back to the elvator.

“Great name. Couldn't do it better.” Tony came up to Peter and Emma from behind.

Natasha also joined the three. “Blue Moon...kinda catchy.”

In the elevator they started to guess what's gonna be the biggest headline from the press conference.

“I mean that green tie guy really thought he had something with the two of you being together often. I bet he's gonna try to sell that one.”

Sam, Clint and Nat got out on the Avengers' common floor where as Peter, Emma and Tony went another floor up to the penthouse. Peter and Emma threw themselves onto the couch not caring that they were still in their suits.

“How did you come up with Blue Moon? It wasn't on Ned's list...”

Before answering she threw a pillow at him.

“First fo all: I have answered enough questions for today. And I couldn't sleep. I watched the stars last night. It just came to my mind and kinda stuck.” They started talking about the most random stuff together with Tony.

“Okay. How about some food?” Tony got up to order something. “Pizza or Tacos?”

“Tacos!” The two teens answered in unison like they did ofeten when it came to food. After placing the order Tony sat down at the table to work on some sketches while Peter and Emma were still laying on the couch.

Soon the elevator dinged signaling that the food was here.

“Food!” Peter jumped up from the couch and sprinted over to the kitchen. Emma followed him but with less speed and without yelling out of excitement. They all sat down around the table to eat.

“Why don't you change into something more comfy?” Emma was still sitting there in her suit. Peter had changed at some point.

“I'm comfy.” She took the last bite of her taco, leaning back in her chair. Pepper joined them with a newspaper in her arms.

“Blue Moon. I'm proud of you.”

They kept on talking for the rest of the evening. Emma was the first one to go to bed.She was tired not only from being up all day but from being awake too long. As she got ready for bed she was still shocked. As she brushed her hair she felt the missing inches. It still looked strange to her. But she would have to get used to it. Usually she braided her hair before going to bed but there was not much to braid now. She crawled into bed nearly half asleep. Even before Friday turned off her lights she was fast asleep.

“Emma! Emma! Wake up! We're on the front page!”

Peter stormed into her room a newspaper in his hands. On the frontpage was a big picture from the press conference undernetah the head line.

“What?” Emma was still half asleep and her hair was sticking out in every direction.

“No media calls you 'Ninja' anymore.”

She just showed him a thumbs up before sinking back into her blanket. “Go eat breakfast or something...”

Peter threw the newspaper at her before running out of the room.

“Great now I'm awake...” Reluctantly she got out of bed. On her way to the bathrom she grabbed one of her christmas sweaters. It wereonly three more days 'til christmas eve after all. As she walked into the living room she was surprised to see Pepper and Tony sitting at the breakfast table. Was it this early?

“Morning, Ems.” Her dad sat with his back facing her, a newspaper in his hands. “Morning.”

Pepper was already writing something on her StarkPad. “Come sit down.” She patted the chair next to her without looking up. On her way to the table Emma grabbed an apple from the kitchen table.

“It's 10 am...wouldn't you usually be in meetings by now?”

The newspaper Peter had thrown at her had filled two full pages with everything from the press conference.

“10 am? Shit. We have an Avengers meeting...” Tony got up and rushed to the elevator before running back to grab his mug of coffee from the table.

“May and I planned a girls day today. Nat and Wanda didn't want to join us. You wanna come?” She closed the case of her StarkPad before turning to Emma. She stopped in her tracks as she saw her hair cut.

Before Pepper could ask Emma answered. “I'm in. And don't ask. Those guys had a tight grip on my ponytail and I wasn't keen on getting kidnapped. Again.”

Tilting her head from one side to the other she inspected her daughters new invouluntary hair cut. “I like it. Didn't you want to try a new hair cut anyway?”

Emma nodded her head yes while taking another bite of her apple.

“Does the offer to join the girls day still stand? 'Casue I think we could use a break from the boy band...” Nat and Wanda stepped into the penthouse with May.

“Sure.” After breakfast they started their wellness day.

“And then they turned the meeting into another game competition...” They sat on the couch just talking about anything. Wanda and Nat had liked Emma's new haircut aswell. It was dark outside but the full moon illustrated the lake outside in a light blue.

As they kept on talking Wanda's phone started to buzz violently on the desk. A red shimmer picked it up. “I think break's over.”

As if on cue Emma's phone buzzed too. Nat held hers already in her hands.

“Sorry. Big thing.” Nat and Wanda took the stairs to get one floor down.

Emma had a differnent message. Peter had told her about the little alarm he had given the police men with the donut. Just in case the police needed help and Peter wasn't around.

'Got a big robbery with hostages.'

“I gotta go. There's a robbery with hostages going on....” Emma was already on her way to the balcony.

“Be safe!”

She jumped off the balcony before landing on the balcony below her.

“Thanks for the lift.” Peter stuck to her back as she flew to New York.

The building was already surrounded by police cars as the two arrived. Peter had started to swing beside her as they had reached the big city.

They found the police men immediatley. “Thank god you're here! Both of you! And thanks again for last time, Spidey.” He had something like a phone in his hands. “Honestly I wasn't sure if Blue Moon would come too. But you're here.”

Some younger police men had noticed the two heroes too and came closer. One of them had a tablet in his hands. He gave it to the officer. “They have hostages here...here and at the vaults. We don't know how many.” He pointed to parts of the building's blueprints on the tablet h held. “We're sorry we don't have more. You got a plan?”

Emma and Peter looked up from the plans. With a quick glance at each other they turned back to the officer. “Yeah.”

Without any more explaination they searched for the back door they had seen on the blueprints. 

"On three..." He checked if the door was locked. It was.

Emma got ready to blast away the lock to get in. "'Kay."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!!  
> Maybe leave kudos or a comment? I would be really greatfull...  
> Hope you enjoyed it ; )


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